When I started college, I wish I knew about these 2 things.
1. Rate My Professor should become your go-to.
There is nothing worse than going into a course completely blind-sided. I have learned that checking the website, Rate My Professor, is absolutely necessary before registering for courses. The site allows students to rate and write reviews on a professor. The student selects the university, professor and the specific course. I was not aware that this site even existed my first semester in college. Unfortunately, I did not discover it until my second semester, but once I did, I was so thankful. My first semester of college, I had a horrible experience with my schedule because I based it around what time the course was offered, rather than who the professor was. The same exact course can be taught in so many different ways. Every single professor has their own style of instruction. Some professors might make students read the textbook every night, while others might not even have you purchase the textbook. One professor might have students take a midterm and a final, while another professor might include participation points, pop quizzes and exams every week. The diverse methods of teaching the same course does not seem fair, but that is where Rate My Professor comes in handy. Is the professor a reasonable grader? Are their exams difficult? Do they offer extra credit? These are all questions that might be answered on the website.
2. Take advantage of having access to a free gym.
When I started college, I knew that I wanted to continue with my healthy habits. I was so passionate about health and fitness and loved how both played a huge role in my life. Sadly, throughout my first semester, healthy food and the gym became less important to me. Rather than taking advantage of the free recreational facility, I took advantage the free dining halls. Having access to unhealthy food 24/7 was not an ideal situation for me; I lost sight of my health. We all know the expression, "freshman 15." What about the freshman 30? I gained a significant amount of weight during my first semester, which caused me to become very unhappy and disappointed. It was not until second semester that I reestablished healthy habits and hit the gym after class five days a week. I fell in love with health and fitness again and started to feel back to my happy self.
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