Well, you've finally made. The first week of the next four months of your life. Also known as Syllabus Week. In grade school and high school, you had the first day of classes. The day when parents took pictures, you were forced to wear name tags, and you basically spent the whole first day talking about what you did for the summer. Going into your freshman year of college, you relive this experience in the form of Welcome Week. Cue the awkward icebreakers, forcing yourself to be friends with your randomly assigned roommate so it looks like you have friends, and a lot of repetition in the form of Name, Major, Home Town, and Fun Fact. Somehow based on this small amount of data, you're expected to not only remember people but find friends. And just when you think you've made it through this last and final week of self-introduction, Syllabus Week begins.

And the introductions of Syllabus Week are not just a phenomenon that happens your first year of college, but rather something that you experience continually for the next 8 or more semesters of your college career. In each class, you have to once again become Name, Major, Home Town, and Fun Fact. For the next four months, you may not know the name of the person across the room, but you'll most definitely remember that their Fun Fact was that rode an elephant. Now this person is forever known as Elephant Girl in your mind, and you may never learn her actual name. But hey, at least you know a Fun Fact.

Sounds just like Welcome Week, doesn't it? Well, yes and no. Because on top of all the Welcome-Week-style introductions, you also have to meet your teacher and hear about every rule the University has in place PLUS every assignment that you will complete by Christmas.

Let's begin with your professor: they will give you their name, what you're actually supposed to call them regardless of what their name is, what pronoun you are expected to address him/her/etc. by, their office extension that you'll never use, their office hours that you'll try to avoid, and the room number and time of that class that you're currently meeting in that very room at that very time. After that the will go over all of their classroom procedures, spend 10 minutes addressing the use of technology in the classroom and another 15 on the attendance policy, and then close out with a nice indeterminately long speech about how grading works but what is most important is improving yourself in the class and how your effort will impact your grade. As if we're all not there for the grade result in the long run.

Next up is the short speech about the University policies, 90% of which are repeats of the professor's classroom policies anyway. But in case you missed it the first time, be ready for a 10-minute recap anyway.

Now, to the meat of why we're all here: the assignment schedule. This portion of the document can vary in size, detail, and length. It may be a list, a calendar, a week by week schedule, or simply exam dates. If you're lucky, your final exam grade will be at the bottom, underlined and in bold. But beware: the professor is not bound by this document and assignment due dates are subject to change as needed. And it will be just your luck that the assignments you want to be changed will never move, and the seemingly easy assignments will have several week extensions. At least you have a least so you can work ahead at your own risk.

Well, congratulations. You've made it through your first day of class. If you're lucky you'll have minimal homework. If you're even luckier, it'll be in the form of a "syllabus quiz" to make sure you either read it or were paying attention. Beware at the next class section the professor might spring random questions about the syllabus on you. And keep the document available at all times, but all the questions you have about classroom procedures will be directed to "read the syllabus."