To the incoming University of Georgia class of 2024,
Let me start off by saying what a crazy end of a senior year we have had. However, I truly believe the best is yet to come! As an incoming UGA freshman, I know that this transition to beginning college life can be daunting. I want to relieve this stress by giving you five ways you can begin your experience while we're all living in these unprecedented times.
1. Join a group chat
I was shocked to see how quickly I found group chat links popping up on my Facebook feed to a plethora of different groups at UGA. I'm a part of a Panhellenic one (will be rushing this fall), one for my dorm hall, etc. I have friends who are even in ones for their majors! If you can think of any similarity you have with your incoming class then I'm almost positive there is a group chat for it!
2. Follow Instagrams
We all did it. The moment we committed to the University of Georgia (to the best school ever) we put some variation of UGA 24 in our Instagram bios. Take advantage of this and start following people who will be attending UGA in the fall. This is such a great way to begin making connections and start conversations. Everyone wants to be able to see a familiar face around campus!
3. Connect with your virtual small group
One of the biggest changes we as the incoming class of 2024 faced was a virtual orientation. We met or will meet in the next month with an orientation leader and a group of 20 students over zoom. In this session, we all introduce ourselves and our majors and discuss all things UGA. Take the opportunity after the session to reach out to those in your group who you had things in common with! It is a great chance to make even more friends before you even step foot on campus.
4. Talk to upperclassmen
Connecting with those who had been (almost) in your shoes, helps make any transition better. Go out and talk to friends or friends of friends that go to UGA. This gives you someone who you can always ask your millions of questions, trust me, they were in basically the same situation (minus the pandemic) and had loads of questions as they prepared to begin their first year.
5. Research
With all this free time we have spend it doing some research. Find those organizations you want to be a part of. Start contacting them. We've got a lot of time on our hands, so spend it researching. Might as well become a UGA expert!
Beginning this next chapter of our lives at the University of Georgia can be stressful, and it doesn't help that we can't meet people face-to-face through orientation and other events that would have occurred. However, don't let that stop you from beginning to connect with others and get involved with the campus. Your experience will be as great as you make it. Go Dawgs!
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