The first year of college can be stressful and sometimes overwhelming, especially when you don’t know what to expect. You want to make the most out of your college experience from the start. So, if you are just starting your first semester at FIU, even if you’ve already started taking classes in the summer, keep reading. Here are 15 tips I learned as a FIU freshman this year.
The earlier you go the better. In a school of 55,000 students, classes are filling fast. By summer, mostly the freshmen and transfer students are left picking their class schedule. The earlier you go to orientation and get that done, the more options you have of picking you preferred schedule.
Unless you are a morning person who enjoys waking up early, DO NOT take an 8 am class. Most freshman make that mistake thinking “I used to have early classes like that in high school”.
Well, the truth is it’s not high school anymore and you may find yourself struggling to wake up in the morning after a tiring night. Once you skip class the first time to stay in bed, it will get easier to do and when finals comes around you’ll realize that you missed half of the lectures.
Even before you start school, you can sign up for Panther Camp. It’s a 3 three day getaway for freshmen to get to know each other, have fun and make friends. The price is $90 total but you can pay $40 if you apply for the Panther Camp scholarship. There is also the Robillard Scholarship Program that can cover the full cost of Panther Camp for a student if accepted.
Panther camp is only for Freshman and transfer students. Don’t miss the opportunity because you will make friends even before you start school and have your very own camp family.
For more information, click here.
Not many people know this, but the FIU app can actually help you with a lot of things on campus. Let it be your best friend when you’re trying to find a building on campus. Go to “Maps” and choose whichever campus you are on and it will pinpoint where you are and your destination.
Tip: You can also click on “Places” to find all of the stores, restaurants and services available on all three campuses.
The app gives you location and phone number and updates the hours of operations weekly as needed. There is a lot more available options such as transit, news, library, events, athletics and so on but maps and places are the most commonly used.
You can play around with the rest of the options and you’ll see how much more the app can help you.
Use the FIU mobile app and find the places you want to eat at, where the closest parking is, the fastest way to the library and so on.
And before school starts, do a practice run to see where your classes are at. You don’t want to be the one student late because you couldn’t find the right classroom. Grab a few friends and go on an afternoon adventure to locate all of your classes.
If you want to stay fit and excited about exercising, go to a Pantherfit class.
You can register online an hour before the class starts to participate in free zumba, hardbodies, yoga, cardio kickboxing, group cycle, piloxing every day even on weekends.
There is even a free Invisible Woman Self Defense that teaches students how to protect themselves. All classes are available at a range of times every day and it’s a fun way exercise and stay in shape.
To sign up click here.
You won’t believe how many things you can do at the Green Library (GL). Not only can you study in absolute quiet floors when you need to, you can also check out electronic devices such as laptops, Ipads, phone chargers, calculators, cameras, headphones and so on.
So whenever you run into trouble with your devices, you can find a quick replacement at the library.
Don’t miss an opportunity to sign up for clubs you are interested in and get free food. Club rush is usually in the Graham Center (GC) ballrooms and mostly all clubs are at a table with flyers and prizes. You’ll come back with your bag full of cups, bottles, key chains and other organizations items.
From there, you will also learn about the Welcome Week activities that you can attend to win a bunch of free stuff and meet new people.
If you can’t make it to club rush you can also search for cubs on the FIU Orgsync here.
When in doubt, go see your assigned academic advisor. Whether you are struggling with a class, changing or adding a major, they can help you improve and make an informed decisions. Don’t be afraid to tell them about your academic goals, they will you every step of the way.
Go to the computer lab in the Graham Center (GC) and print there. Whether it’s black and white or color, printing is a lot cheaper there than anywhere else on campus.
Go to Breezway. It is the mini market in the residential building area that you can go to until 2 am to get some food. They make the best chocolate cookies and have pizza and shakes if you ever need to refill while studying.
If you ever feel sick or even if you don’t visit the Student Health Center (SHC) for a full body checkup and more. You can take advantage of a bunch of free services like massages, free HIV testing, aromatherapy, free condoms, stress management, nutrition education and more. You already pay for a lot of those services in your tuition health fee, you might as well just use them.
They call it the One Card because it’s literally one card for everything that you need to do on campus: at the library for checking out books and devices and the bookstore, the Panther Tech to buy something. It’s like your driver’s licence on campus and you need to keep it on you at all times just in case you need something.
You can even use it as a debit card if you ever forget to bring your purse with you. There is a blue swipe for al FIU-related transactions and a black swipe connected to your Wells Fargo debit card.
It’s the FIU career services where you can find job opportunities and internships, do mock interviews and get a free resume critiques from professionals. Stay updated with their events because they organize career fair and internship fair where the best employers in the state come to hire people.
The Panther mover is a Golf cart shuttle service. It’s free for all FIU students and runs from and to specific building on weekdays from 8am to 8pm. If you don’t feel like walking, you can always take it to get to class.
You can also call to FIU Police Non-emergency phone number to request the Panther Safety Tram between 7pm and 1 am. They will pick you up anywhere on campus and drop you off at the door of your residential building.
You never know what you’ll miss if you don’t. Some professors even send important announcements through there before the first class. Check it and make sure you stay updated and on track with what need to get done.
And most importantly…
It might be hard at first, but freshman year is the one year that you’ll never forget with all your ups and downs. Have fun and make it the most amazing experience of your life. Welcome to the Panther family!
You are now officially an FIU Panther!
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