As the school year comes to an end and we all start worrying about exams again, I take this opportunity to take a look back and reflect upon my first year at UVA; or rather, all the mistakes I’ve made. The transition from high school to college isn’t a seamless one, and I’ve made my fair share of errors. Here I dish out the top mistakes I’ve made this year, which I’m sure many college students have made at some time or another.
1. Forgetting UVA lingo
If I had a quarter for every time I forgot to use the proper University of Virginia vocabulary, I’d be able to buy at least two orders from the dumpling cart. Trying to remember to say “grounds” and “first year” can be a little bit difficult when you’re first starting out since every other college in the country says “campus” and “freshman.” I’ve been given dirty looks and corrected multiple times, but we all know we’ve done it at some point.
2. Putting my ID card on a lanyard
Every tour or info session I attended before college told me the same thing: don’t get a lanyard, everyone will know you’re a first year. Well, I didn’t listen, I got a lanyard. I’m not comfortable with keeping my ID on my phone, and I also have a key to carry around, so a lanyard it was. It wasn’t that bad, but yeah, it looked kind of silly. Probably not something I’ll continue into my second year.
3. Being too overzealous when buying books
Going into college, I was super excited and nervous to get started, so I bought/rented all the books my professors listed as soon as possible. I should have waited a little bit. Even though the anxiety would have killed me, I could have avoided spending money on books my professors said we wouldn’t actually be using, or texts I could’ve easily found online. Well, if nothing else, I have these nice unopened books looking pretty on my shelf.
4. Forgetting my ID in my room
Around exam time when my mind is focused on my schoolwork, my memory tends to slip on the smaller things. This leads to a lot of leaving my room and forgetting my ID, which means I’m able to do practically nothing. I can’t go to the dining hall, use the library printers, or even enter my building without my ID. I know I’m not the only one - I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen messages in my dorm’s GroupMe begging for someone to let me into the building.
5. Signing up for a two and a half hour, once a week class
We all have to take classes we don’t particularly like. I found a class that would take care of two of my gen ed requirements, but it was once a week for two and a half hours. I figured, how bad could it be? Don’t do it, folks. Being stuck in a chair for that long talking about a subject you’re not that interested in in the first place is a recipe for disaster. Your professor will give you a break if you’re lucky. And while it’s only once a week, when that day of the week arrives, you’re filled with nothing but dread.
6. Signing up for too many listservs at the beginning of the year
It’s a pit you will inevitably fall into. The first week of college is designed to get first years to join extracurriculars, and of course as a first year who’s desperate to participate in just about anything, so you put your name down on as many lists as possible. Of course, you end up actually participating in about two or three of them, and you’re stuck with all of these emails that you never really wanted in the first place. Some listservs are worse than others, but either way, you always find yourself weeding through a crowded inbox.
7. Relying on the UTS buses and UTS app too much
At the start of the year I thought to myself, “It’s a walking campus! I’ll walk everywhere and take in how beautiful it is!” Then I remembered how lazy I am and sunk back into my old habits. The fact that there’s a bus stop just steps away from my dorm hasn’t helped. I find myself in a bad routine of taking the bus literally one stop when I’m not in the mood to walk (which feels like all the time). I also find myself relying too heavily on the Rider app and getting overly upset when the bus takes longer to arrive than it said it would.
8. Thinking I would bypass the Freshman 15
Everyone warned me about the Freshman 15, and I, like an idiot, believed I would avoid it due to all the walking I’d be doing. No such luck, of course. The Freshman 15 affects us all, and I was not one of the lucky ones, due to the fact that I am not an NCAA athlete.
9. Not checking my plus dollars balance
In your first year of college, plus dollars feel like unlimited money. All throughout the semester you simply swipe the card without having to worry about a thing. And I was mindlessly using my plus dollars without a care in the world. And when I finally got around to checking my balance, I had about ten dollars left with a month to go. This has happened to me both semesters. How am I supposed to buy dumplings now? My own cash? Inconceivable.
10. Not taking advantage of office hours
The number one practical piece of advice I got before college was to go to office hours, as it would really help me in my classes and give me an opportunity to form bonds with my professors. And I meant to, I really did. But after almost a year in, I can count the number of times I’ve gone to office hours on one hand. Maybe it’s my inability to ask for help, but I haven’t gone, even in classes I’m not doing the best in. I keep telling myself to go, but I keep finding excuses. Hopefully in the future I can make a change.
Despite all the mistakes I’ve made, my first year has still been a good one. Through all the mishaps and questionable decisions, UVA is still the place to be.
