First Year Guide to Gator Nation
By Brooklyn Carey
We are always trying to help our students get acclimated into Gainesville and the UF environment. So for the FALL 2018 kickoff we have created for you a back to school checklist customized for UF and Gainesville! Hope you enjoy and that you find it helpful.
1. Dorm or Apartment Check-In and Roommates
One of the first things that you are going to have to do is get set up in your room! It’s one of the most exciting things about getting to college: having your own, independent space! It’s important to get this space comfortable and unique to you so that you have a place to relax and unwind from those upcoming exams.
Here is a shopping list of some items that you might need in Gainesville!
Although exciting, you are going to have a whole new hill to climb: Roommates.
They can turn into lifelong friendships or cringe-worthy stories to tell your friends about later. No matter what, there is going to be conflict. It is important that the both of you sit down and talk at the beginning of the semester to talk about expectations. Share what your schedule is going to be like, talk about how neat you expect the room to be, guest policies and how you feel about sharing items. Establishing things early can help to mitigate fights later. Eventually there’s going to be something that your roommate does that’s going to bother you: talk about these things as early as possible! Your roommate most likely doesn’t know what they are doing is bothering you, so address it right away before you let your anger build over time and lash out in a burst of anger. Waiting until the last possible straw will just make it a bigger deal than it is! And remember to be understanding because BOTH of you are getting used to having a roommate, BOTH of you are going to have little habits that will be annoying to the other.
First time moving? We have some tips to help you out!
2. Grocery shopping in Gainesville!
When I lived in a dorm I kept a three-tier system for my snacks:
- Study Snacks: Chips, popcorn, carrots, grapes, hummus, guac. These are small easy-to-store items that you can have a lot of (without getting a lot of calories- combat the Freshman 15!) and can mindlessly munch on in your dorm when you are working on your laptop or watching Netflix. It is important to get things that you are either going to eat quickly or can be stored for a long period of time without going bad.
- Mid-Day Meals- Head to Publix and get some lunch meat and bread! (Those of you who are vegetarian, vegan, or gluten intolerant, get some materials to make a simple three ingredient veggie wrap). Meal prep these ahead of time and keep them in saran wrap to preserve space in that small, dorm room mini-fridge and pack them in your backpack for in-between class lunch. Listen, going to Chick-fil-A or Subway between class is gonna happen: treat yourself! But not every day, that kind of money adds up fast and this is one of the major ways to cut down costs.
- Dorm Room Dinner- You are going to have to master the ways of cooking in the dorm. There are a lot of things that aren’t going to be realistic: you don’t have a lot of refrigerated storage. But here are some tips on creating dinner dishes:
- Get dry storage noodles and pasta
- Buy a pan, pot, a spatula, and get a lunch kit (They come with a tupperware, fork, knife and fork- great for storage and you can quickly rinse these and reuse them instead of getting one use cutlery) dish soap, sponge, paper towels, olive oil for cooking, and ziplocs!
Here are some dorm recipes
Here are some vegan dorm recipies ;)
For those of you who have never cooked — here are the basics
For these supplies, you can’t get everything you need at the P.O.D. Markets, but I’ve marked grocery stores like Publix, Target, and CVS that are walkable from campus, on this map:
One of our great team-members created a whole guide to grocery shopping: check it out here!
3. Book prices, you are a cruel mistress.
Save money by buying one edition earlier (or a couple, depending on the class) of the required class book. Most of the time there are not a whole lot of changes in between editions.
Use the UF student Facebook pages/groups and post about the books you are looking for. Previous students might be looking to sell their old books so look out for or post about a book you need!
Buy some used books at: Bigwords.com they compare their prices to other sites so you know you’ll be getting lowest online prices possible.
PRO TIP: Go to the libraries early in the semester! Some of the class books are available and you can check them out- just remember to renew your checkout!
4. Making Friends
First things first! Hang out in your dorm, be friendly and talk with others in the hallway or common place areas!
Go to the events on campus- a lot of freshman go to these and you can meet a lot of people there. There will be posters popping up around your dorm and in the libraries with upcoming events.
Don’t write off off-campus places, go to the Downtown Gainesville Farmer’s Market, students show up there all the time and you can buy some cool stuff there!
Eventually, the campus libraries will get more popular, try studying off campus and spice up your study life! Especially if that is going to be your main habitat during the semesters- these places are usually a lot cozier than West and Marston. Here is a list of a bunch of off campus study spots! These coffee shops will have posters for Gainesville events so you’ll be able to get connected with the community outside of campus.
5. Finding Time to Relax
Make sure that you find the time to relax on breezy summer days, or cold winter ones. The nights and evenings are gorgeous lying in a hammock on Plaza of the Americas, I would suggest getting one to lounge and relax between classes. Or you can rent a hammock from any RecSports location and borrow it for up to 48 hours. Bonus: the school wifi stretches over the Plaza so you can watch Netflix or browse on your laptop right in your hammock. In the winter, grab some hot chocolate from Lib West Starbucks and cozy up with blankets and friends!
Head out to Lake Wauburg on the Weekends!
Take a class at the UF Rec center! Remember that keeping yourself healthy is a major key to keeping yourself happy and on task with work!
Here are some things you can do around Gainesville! On and off campus! (Not exclusive to summer)
6. Find ways to keep organized!
I use this app for work but you can also use it to make sure that you are on point for assignments in your classes:
It really helps you to set deadlines and visually see what things you want to accomplish and the steps that you need to take to achieve them.
Keep a journal, make sure that you remember what you’ve been doing. This is a special time in your life and you don’t want to miss out or forget!
Hope that your four years here are amazing Baby Gators. Leave a suggestion in the comments if you have any tips of your own and make sure to tune in next week when I post the UF 2018 Football Guide!
For more Freshman tips and advice, check out Things I wish I Knew as a UF Freshman and an article that highlights some of the best things to do in Gainesville.
