Clark Tips – directed toward the incoming ‘First-years’

Have any Clark tips?

I do. Here:

• Get to know your PA — they can help you a lot and they want to too
• Take advantage of the fact that most events on campus are free — try new things
• Don’t give up on the job thing — if you know you want to work somewhere, just call / e-mail and get to know people in the department.
• The deans are awesome sources of information and really friendly, basically it’s their job to help you
• Huge intro lecture classes suck: sit in the front row, take notes, ask questions after class, volunteer to share your notes for students who need them (this will keep you on your game knowing that other people will have to be able to follow what you write), do the homework, make the most of the TAs (they’re students too – that makes them much easier to relate to than a professor), and don’t sit with your friends – you might start making fun of the professor!
• Calculus is as hard as you imagine it would be
• It is sooooo easy to meet people during orientation week — keeping an open mind in this one week can lead to drastic differences in your 4+ year experience. And it stays easy to meet people until the end of the first month, after that it takes a bit more work. In the first few weeks people have enough time to meet new people and aren’t assigned as much work (unless they are taking advanced courses)
• Take easy course first semester, or as easy as you are comfortable with — you want to use this time to meet people
• Enjoy the end of summer beautiful weather — from october to april you won’t see weather so nice as the first month of school.
• Read the book for Orientation, it’s good — or at least it’s good for you. Also, c’mon you’re in college now – you gotta do the reading
• btw generally the reading isn’t that bad, you just happen to not have the option of skipping it
• take the writing sample (seriously), you don’t want to have to take a lower level course because you didn’t feel like trying to write a two page essay all summer
• explore the Clark website, it’s not huge – and you won’t have to look for stuff later on. Bookmark stuff you think will be useful (web for students, cMail, intranet, student digest to name a few)
• iTunes lets you listen to other people’s music (legally), myTunes or ourTunes let you dowload their music (illegally)
• Read the studentDigest and campusDigest if you are cool like that
• Clark has lingo, pick it up quickly and impress your friends. Freshman = ‘first year’, Dorm = ‘residence hall’, and there are probably others but those are the main two that catch people
• Go to the activities fair, get yourself into some clubs on campus — it’ll make you feel more connected to the Clark community. If you don’t see something you like — start a new club and if you need help, talk to the Director of Student Leadership and Programming (DSLaP)
• Keep your grades up – it allows you more flexibility in the future (like taking extra classes, and participating in clubs)
• Take some ‘perspective’ courses – there are a bunch and you don’t want to miss any before graduation
• If the roommate situation isn’t working out, you can change – it’s probably for the best
• Finish AlcholEdu as soon as you can — you’ll be happier having it off your mind
• Clark TREK is an amazing program – do it if you’ve got the money. Come up with the money if you don’t.
• Dining dollars disappear quickly – try to eat most of your meals in the caf and use meal Swaps in the Bistro.
• You can’t swipe or swap after 8pm so make sure to have some emergency dining dollars or clark dollars for when you need a late snack
• There are more than ten restaurants inside of ten minutes by foot, most have delivery services
• Walk a lot — you eat a lot, you don’t exercise, you gain weight – make sure to walk so as to maintain your health
• The writing center is good for you – plan in advance, sometimes getting an appoinment that fits your schedule can be difficult
• If you are interested in business or just like meddling in school affairs the Business Insight Committee is a great way to get involved. Paul Coute, Clark’s very own business manager, asked me to find first year and sophomore students to help him better understand what Clark students want and expect from their higher learning institution (This includes the bookstore, laundry services, and most importantly dining services).
• The Scarlet, student newspaper, is always looking for people to write for it — be that person. It feels really good to see your name in print.
• You can arrange your room however you like. You can probably bunk your beds. You can raise your bed really high in the air. You can sleep on the mattress on the floor (I’ve seen it done). You can talk to your roommate first.
• Talk to your roommate before you get to school – see if (s)he is bringing anything so that you don’t have to — or vice versa.
• If you close — don’t bring everything you want in your room on move-in day, split it up — or you might end up bringing more than you can accommodate.
• Look out for something called the Dump and Run sale…(it might not be on this year – but) it is a really cool yard-sale made up of stuff donated by Clarkies at the end of the year.
• Games on the green while being rediculous — are still a great way to enjoy the good weather
• Student Council meetings are open to everyone, so if you have comments, questions, or complaints you can voice them to people who want to help.
• Don’t get sick: wash your hands frequently, avoid sharing drinks
• Many people enjoy Sudoku, also many people can’t say Sudoku correctly (try to refrain from correcting them – it doesn’t help)
• There are three first-year residence halls. Many people leave their doors open when they are in their rooms and you can get to know people just by walking around and introducing yourself (try not to be sktechy).
• Clark is sketchy – but good endearing sketchy.
• If you have questions, ask someone. Really, just do it. Ask me if you want, I’m good for a made up answer.
• Mailboxes – learn how to open your mailbox. You don’t want to have to ask the mailroom people to get your mail for you, comma. If you didn’t get that comma reference read the Pulitzer you just got in the mail.
• Don’t watch TV in your room. If you’re going to watch TV – don’t do it alone and don’t do it in your room – this will save you tons of time.
• Anything else about Clark — easy enough to figure out.

Peace.

Summer 2006

Set some goals for a more productive summer:

• Do nothing
• Learn a language
• Win a scholarship
• Read a book (or several)
• Keep a journal
• Prepare for next semester’s courses
• Clean your room

• Come up with a list of goals and the next physical action to help you achieve each goal.

There is no limit on what you can accomplish in a summer, you just have to put your mind to work. Decide what you want to do, and figure out the next actionable step to getting it done.