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Dos and Dont’s for this semester

09/08/2010
By:

Editorial

Staff

Now that we’ve all completed our first week of the semester and managed (mostly) to attend every class in the process, the Southern News staff has come up with what we believe is a helpful list of what to do and not to do in order to make this semester a successful one.

Dos:
-Show up! Half the battle of doing well in your classes is going to be showing up to class. In fact, we have several professors that tell us that half of life is simply showing up. It’s important not to get lost in a class simply because you lacked the motivation to get up and go to class.

-Stay connected! If you don’t use your Owls e-mail, be sure to forward it to any e-mail you actually use. Anytime professors send out important notices or last minute cancellations, they send them to the e-mail, so stay connected or you could miss out on something important and end up frustrating yourself in the process.

-Allow yourself enough time. A big challenge during the semester is going to revolve around time management – and making sure you have enough of it – to complete what it is you need to get done. Even with an impossibly busy schedule, it will become unfair to yourself to not have a plan in regards to your time. After all, your time will be money one day and there’s no sense in letting it go to waste now.

-Get involved. The more you make an effort to take part in a student club (and trust me, there’s at least one out there for everybody) or organization, the more likely you are to meet new people with similar interests. Plus, the more you take part in the campus around you, the more likely you are to take away some good experiences.

-Take measure to keep yourself healthy physically and mentally. In the past year and a half, Southern administrators have taken vast strides in ensuring that students have the options available to them for staying healthy mentally and physically. With an on-campus dietician, a fitness center with exercise classes, and a full staff of counselors in the counseling center, there’s no reason we can’t all strive to make ourselves feel better through mind and body.

Don’t:
-Dress like a slob. We’re sure everyone has rough days here and there where you feel compelled to go out in public in your sweatpants, but if done more frequently, you could be sending the wrong message. When the time is taken to look a little put together, we find that we pay attention better in class and feel better about ourselves.

-Post every personal problem and aspect of your life on a social networking site. We know. It’s hard sometimes. You get frustrated, you sit in front of your computer, and your first instinct is to bitch to the rest of the world about how hard your life is. Unfortunately, those digital footprints follow you, and you don’t want to let your future employers think that’s how you might be at a job. Besides, everyone is better off having a slightly mysterious side to him or her. You shouldn’t want to tell everyone everything, and if you feel like you do, you need to make a conscious effort to take it down a notch.

-Spend too much time on your computer. Instead of using your free time to catch up on everyone else’s lives on Facebook or Twitter, take some time to go have some fun of your own. You never know if one conversation with some roommates down the hall might spark into a night of fun if you’re cooped up in your room on the computer. Go outside. Explore. New Haven is a great college-friendly city with plenty to do and see.

-Think you can binge drink just because you’re in college. In fact, the best way to gain those freshmen 15 or any weight, for that matter, is by drinking your calories. One night of binge drinking can equal your amount in daily calories, and that is a bad feeling that will certainly extend past the next morning.

-Let your temper get the best of you. If you yell, you lose – no matter how wrong you think the other person might be. If you plan to be at this school for a while, you should try to maintain good relationships with students and staff. You never know when you’ll be in a class with them, or need a recommendation or a favor. There’s no sense in burning bridges with people that will be hanging around campus with you for the next four years. (Trust us – we know).

Take our advice as food for thought. Some of us have been here for four years, and we like to think our experiences and mistakes can certainly help you out if you just think about it.

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