Dearest New Student,

The start of college is an exciting period, the glamour and elitism that are associated with attending a university are extraordinary in their own right. Enjoy every moment of this.

However, snap out of this phase as quickly as possible. This academic year is short (January to May/June), and if one isn’t careful a lot of things could go wrong.

My advice to you is that you register as soon as possible. If you have to beg, borrow or steal to complete registration for this first semester, I encourage you to do so. A lot of things can go wrong from late registration; I was a victim. I had missing grades until two days before graduation as a result of late registration. Please register as soon as you can.

Be open to new friends. There is no better opportunity than a university to build a network of support, advocates, and potential business partners.

Friends made in college whether, from class, social clubs, or other places can be a source of knowledge, opportunities, and wealth. I had a great experience with the Black Family and my social club, the Ladies Quarterly. Build a crew.

Choose your electives carefully. In college, we tend to select electives based on whether they are easy.

This is not entirely a bad thing, however, it won’t help you in the long term. You should understand why and how a course will be beneficial to you in the long run. In college, I was wise enough to select Computer Programming and Analysis as an elective, today, I know my way around basic excel features as a result of this.

Grades like a 40 which is a credit and 70, distinction yet 200 might still fail. The bare minimum requires; full class attendance, participation and submission of assignments for a 30 continuous score. However, this is hardly the case, a lot of lectures especially in large class don’t pay attention to continuous score.

Be sure to let the lecturer knows you, through participation and asking questions. Practice answers and completely read the course syllabus.

Befriend lecturers, have no enemy and find a study group. I hardly had a study group but it helps to get these in your corner. Lecturers are cool people and you’ll need them in future for internships, recommendations and other opportunities. Be sure to be on their good sides.

Don’t be afraid to change your course. In case you didn’t know, there is an opportunity to transfer courses, especially if you have a requirement for that course. A lot of time, you imagination won’t payout as reality. I had friends struggle in the social science mainstream in the first year and had to repeat. However, they qualified for the Arts.

Lastly, don’t ignore minimart. Find time to try new experiences and always be open to new knowledge.