IU Bloomington: The First Semester Survival Guide — You’re Welcome :)
My man Benjamin Franklin once said that
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”
To my new friends joining one of the greatest college institutions on this planet, welcome to the family, a family of nearly 50,000 students who pride themselves on their continual pursuit of innovation, creativity, and academic freedom.
As a freshman in the Kelley School of Business, I just survived my first semester of college. Not gonna lie, the past four months have truly been some of the best in my entire life; however, it would have been nice if my friends and I had a bit more guidance and advice on some key areas before we began our college careers. With that in mind, I thought what better way to help you guys than to build my own brief survival guide. This guide will focus on avoiding the obstacles hindering your growth and progress in four specific areas: academics, social life, physical health, and, most importantly, mental well-being. In each area, I will then provide my top three overall pieces of advice.
Enjoy :)
Academics: The very first pillar of our temple of success deals mostly with grades and extracurricular clubs and organizations. Surviving academically is crucial in creating the resume that will separate you from the rest of your competition when applying for future jobs and internships.
- ALWAYS check your emails
Numerous students underestimate the significant value of the various emails flooding their inboxes over the course of the semester, especially during the first few weeks. Most of the emails consist of weekly newsletters of upcoming events for the week.
On estimate, I would say I read about 95% of these emails. Many of my friends make the mistake of ignoring these emails and consequently missing incredible events to build up their personal networks and/or experience a great resume-building opportunity.
For example, a newsletter for Civic Leadership Development mentioned a volunteering role at a local elementary school. Long story short, I ended up volunteering at the school and now I have a very high chance of earning a leadership role in the organization for Fall 2019.
The important thing to remember here is that you never know when one of these emails could provide invaluable unexpected information, so don’t be afraid to take just a little extra time to read them.
2. Use ALL of your resources
Here’s a little equation for you to remember throughout your time at IU:
H = IP² → Help = Internet x People x More People
I cannot stress this enough. Remember guys, we are humans, not gods. We can only do so much; it’s not like we can pull solutions out of thin air or snap our fingers and have our problems immediately disappear. That’s life! AND THAT’S OKAY! It’s okay Because we have the internet and other people.
Internet-wise, I thought having this survival guide on Medium would be the perfect example of the many online resources available to help college students. Online articles are great sources of information from witnesses and experts who know about the process and have a whole wealth of knowledge to share with us. They are simple and can be read in any public or private setting.
In consideration of this, here are a few sources that I like to look at in my free time. For the sake of time, I will just list them and not go in-depth. I will let you explore them as you wish on your own :)
People-wise, IU has an amazing staff and an even better community. If you ask anyone what he/she likes most about IU, nine times out of ten, the response will be “the people.” IU is famously known for its extensive alumni network that consists of renowned individuals who are willing to help out their fellow Hoosiers. This quality doesn’t, however, just apply to the alumni, this applies to older students as well. They have been in your shoes and know the quick and easy solution. So don’t be afraid to ask for advice. We all want each other to succeed.
With this in mind, take the opportunities to have PEER MENTORS! There are opportunities to have mentors within various organizations. I currently have a Hutton Honors mentor and a Kelley Mentor through the Mentor Collective. I HIGHLY recommend signing up for these. You only gain from it.
Mentorship through the Mentor Collective is very easy. All you have to do is complete a few prerequisite forms containing questions about you and your career goals, and then you receive a mentor. The Mentor Collective Team (MCT) tries to match you with someone who has similar interests as you, which has proved to be very valuable to me and my friends. Throughout the semester, the MCT sends reminder emails to meet with your mentor to talk about specific topics such as mental health. For me, the most value I have gained from the mentorship was receiving advice on my career path. By talking with Aashray (my mentor), I confirmed that consulting was the career that I wanted to go into rather than investing. That was honestly a life-altering realization, so thank you to him and (MCT) for that. I will always appreciate this experience.
3. NEVER be complacent
I learned this one the hard way first semester… it hit me very, very hard. Because I was doing well in Finite Mathematics, which is supposedly one of the hardest freshman classes at IU, I was satisfied with where I was and didn’t prepare enough for my Finite Mathematics midterm exam. I ended up getting a 75 on it. As a direct result, I needed to get a 95 on the following exam and a 97 on the final just to get an A-. After that midterm, Finite Mathematics was always extremely and unnecessarily stressful. Don’t put yourself through all of that stress and do the work even if you think you know what you are doing. I promise that if you put in quality work into your studies, you will be rewarded on the exams. Stay on-top of things and remain well-versed in your subjects. The frustration is NEVER worth it.
Social life: Now, this second pillar centers around making friends and having some sort of life outside of your academic studies. College is an experience, not a job. Balancing your social life will be like solving a Rubik’s Cube. There is much more to it than a small three by three by three cube that sits in the palm of your hand. You will have to make an effort to establish a good social life. The answer is not just going to magically appear before your eyes.
- Leave your door open
I am sure at least a few of you guys have already been told this one, but making as many friends as you can over the first few weeks is critical in building up a social life on campus.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to simply leave your dorm room door as wide open as possible while you are in there. This obviously excludes sleeping, changing, etc. Other than that, there is no reason to have your door closed while you are in there. With the door open, this invites people to stop by and say hello as well as gives you an opportunity to say hi to people passing by. You never know who you are going to meet. Who knows? Maybe your future best friend will come from it?
In relation to this, you can also just walk the halls saying hi to anyone you see. I unfortunately didn’t think to do this, but luckily for me, other people did, and I made a friend out of it. She was just walking around one day and as one thing led to another, all of a sudden we had been talking for at least a half an hour. Before first semester ended, we actually had dinner together for over an hour and a half together!
2. Find your family
Being an out of state student from Delaware, I came to IU personally knowing only 2 other students, and I barely knew them, so I practically came in solo.
With this in mind, I really wanted to find a group of friends whom I could study with, talk to, or just have fun with. I finally found this when I joined the Phi Gamma Nu business fraternity, or PGN for short. My experience with them has truly been outstanding and has made me enjoy IU so much more.
The reason I say this is because IU is a massive campus, and having such an enormous campus can be extremely daunting. Having a family is a great way to make this giant seem smaller than it is and feel more like home.
An important addition to this section is a bit of eye-witness information that will disprove the common misunderstandings of IU professional fraternities. At IU, the professional fraternities across campus are not strictly professional: they do have fun as well as focus on career growth. I know for me, I came into school thinking that it was basically just a bunch of nerds sitting around a table studying. Trust me when I say this, I couldn’t have been more any more wrong.
3. Take the extra step
The last tip for the social pillar is to go out of your way to build connections. Whether that is staying up an hour later to have a deep, late night conversation with a person you don’t know too well or sending someone a text and saying that he/she did a great job on something that day, I promise you that doing something extra goes a LONG way.
This has been one of the biggest lessons that I have learned first semester. Doing small extra things like those previously stated establishes trust with others. For example, even though it was less productive for me to study with a friend one night rather than studying by myself, doing this allowed me to build a much closer relationship with one of my roommates for Fall 2019.
Physical health: Here, the third pillar revolves around not gaining that notorious “Freshman 15” and being able to remain at optimal level to complete your studies.
- Exercise
I mentioned it earlier, but in case you don’t remember, the campus is MASSIVE. There are still places that I haven’t even explored yet. Take advantage of the space. Explore the magnificence of what is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful college campuses in the United States.
One of the easiest ways to explore while also getting in a good workout is to run around it. If you have to, turn your running into a task. During first semester, I ran down to Kirkwood to go get a haircut and then ran back to my dorm. It was a great way to kill two birds with one stone.
Note that while we are on the subject, the Ritz Hair Studio is an excellent place to get a snip. They have very nice hair dressers and charge a fair price for a quality result :)
Walking is also excellent exercise. It’s easy and there’s no reason not to do it unless you are running very late for class. By doing this, you not only get to appreciate the stunning campus more, but you also figure out how to get around to places when you do not have the campus buses as options.
With that being said, you only really need to know about two buses, possibly one more depending on where you live on campus. The two you definitely need to know are the A-Bus and the 9-Bus. The A-Bus pretty much runs in a large square around the school. It can take you near any of your classes. Meanwhile, the 9-Bus is used to go to College Mall. For all of you out of state students, you will get to know College Mall very quickly, for that is where stores like Bed Bath & Beyond and Target are. A.K.A. College Mall is where all of your money goes to during move-in day.
2. Eat Healthy
Not gonna lie to you guys, this one is a bit of a hard one until you most likely start buying your own food during sophomore year. There are many mixed reviews about campus dining. Personally, I think the quality of the food is fine, but the system and spread of options could be a lot better.
However, there are a few things to do to improve some of the unhealthy meals that you typically get.
First, most people don’t realize that you can get grilled chicken instead of chicken tenders from the Den in Gresham Dining Hall. It’s not on the menu, but all you have to do is ask. Be aware of this in all dining areas.
Secondly, the salad bar is a great source of your daily dose of vegetables. Go over, grab some veggies, and add them to your meal. For example, when I get pasta, I add fresh peppers, onions, and scallions from the salad bar on top. Yes, it might be one extra I-Buck (the currency used to buy your meal), but it is ALWAYS worth it.
I think it is important to also add some information about meal-plans. Our meal-plan system goes by price and not swipes, meaning that you pay for each item individually rather than paying for how many times you enter the dining halls.
The only other thing you need to know about the meal-plan is that unless you are an athlete, someone who eats A LOT, or someone who works out A LOT, you should be perfectly fine going with the Plus Meal Plan (males) and the Standard Meal Plan (females). I personally had the Standard Meal Plan first semester and it definitely felt like I was holding out a bit on eating sometimes so that I could save a few I-Bucks here and there. That’s never any fun.
I suggested the larger meal plan for guys because of personal experience and interaction with my friends at school. I tended to find that the men ran out of I-Bucks way more often than the women. If what I suggested does not seem to work for you during first semester, you can always adjust appropriately. Do not worry if you have extra I-Bucks left over because they will roll over until the end of your first semester sophomore year.
3. SLEEP !!!
Doctor Recommended: 8 hours
Noah Recommended: 6 hours plus one 15–20 minute power nap will suffice.
There are numerous benefits of getting a goodnight’s sleep; however, it’s college. You just need to accept that you won’t be getting the perfect 8 hours every night. Do what you need to do and then hit the hay.
Don’t be afraid of naps! They will significantly help with sleep deprivation.
Nothing else needs to be said.
Mental well-being: The fourth and final pillar to support ourtemple of success is, by far, the most important one.
Your mental health matters. YOU MATTER.
NEVER forget this. Seriously, I will say it again. YOU MATTER.
How about one more time… Hey, you, you strong, intelligent, incredible, unique, one-of-a-kind, lovable individual, guess what? YOU MATTER.
I cannot stress this enough guys. Your mental health is important; YOU are important. That’s why it’s so important that we do the little things to help keep ourselves up and going every day.
- Know your limits
Don’t take on more than you can handle and burn yourself out. This one is tough. There are so many excellent opportunities to explore on campus. From Greek life to academic organizations to keeping up with your exercise to classes, there is a lot going on. So many gears in your head are constantly turning. Don’t overheat your gears. Recognize if you put too much on your plate and take things off as deemed necessary.
My advice? Start with a lot. Sign up for anything you find interesting. This is okay. As you begin to get settled, you will be able to prioritize what matters most to you and realize what events actually interest you and are worth pursuing. I started off signing up for, easily, at least 5 or 6 different things during the first two weeks. I was able to cut that number in half and fully dive into three organizations/activities during my first semester. Remember: Employers aren’t looking for you to simply participate in many things, rather they are looking for you to lead a few things.
2. Do fun things from time to time
Go out to football and basketball games, go to parties, have fun!
As I stated earlier, remember that college is an EXPERIENCE, not a JOB.
You only get four years. Enjoy them. They will be some of the best of your life.
3. Don’t be afraid to say, “I need help.”
I promise you guys, there is no shame in saying these three words. No one will think you are a wimp; no one will think that you are overreacting; no one will unfriend you because you are in a tough mental situation. One of the qualities I love about IU is that IU is a community dedicated to one another’s success.
I briefly touched on this earlier, but you can always go to a faculty member, another student, or a peer mentor such as the one I talked about earlier with the Mentor Collective. They are all openly willing to help. Additionally, you can always go to the IU Counseling and Psychological Services Center (CAPS) for more private consultation.
Well future Hoosiers, that’s it: your brief, but not so brief [oops], IUB first semester survival guide.
This is obviously not everything you need to know, but it is an excellent start. I could have gone into much more detail and talked about many more different things, but I find it best that I leave it as it is. This is a lot of information to take in so please don’t be afraid to look over this piece more than once as you pursue your first semester in Bloomington.
If you need me to clarify or speak more on anything I stated above, please feel free to reach out on social media, through email, or comment below. I am more than willing to meet up on campus to talk about whatever is on your mind and help out as best as I can.
Congrats on getting in. Good luck. I know you will do great! I wish you all the very best for this upcoming fall.
Go Hoosiers!
Email: nsschwar@iu.edu | Facebook: Noah Schwartz | Instagram: noah_schwartz_
BONUS: I thought it would be great to add some little hidden study spots on campus that have been overlooked many times by both me and my friends.
- The Circle Café at the very bottom of the Indiana Memorial Union
- Graduate Buildings
- Your dorm’s center building
*All spots chosen should be able to apply relatively equally to every student on campus
