Freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors: Welcome (back) to Vanderbilt!
If you’re like me, then your summer started with high hopes — reading "War and Peace," learning a foreign language, taking that cross-country trip you’ve been planning for years — and, alas, descended into a mindless routine of hanging out, surfing the Web and watching TV. However this summer left you, now school has reared its ugly head once more, it’s time to fire up your neurons and get back into the groove. Indeed, after racking my brain for several hours, I managed to distill seven cosmic truths from the ether, guaranteed to ensure you a productive semester or your money back.*
1. Get settled. Don’t just shove all your stuff in a closet or under your bed; get your feng shui on and take pride in your new home. Figure out where all your classes are, finalize your schedule and buy your books. If you’re a freshman, decide early on if you’re going Greek and plan accordingly. If you’re an upperclassman, get in touch with your old friends but be ready to make new ones. Check out a few of Vandy’s 300+ student organizations. It may take a few weeks, but you’ll find your niche at Vanderbilt.
2. Hit the ground running. Coursework piles up here faster than snow in Wasilla, so don’t wait until a month from now to start cramming for your first exam. Take things seriously from the get-go and you shouldn’t have a problem.
3. Exercise. Exercise exhausts the body but focuses the mind; the Rec Center could be the best study buddy you’ve ever found. Or if jogging’s your thing, one lap around campus is roughly 3 miles.
4. Relax. Don’t forget, you’re here to have fun as well as to learn. Enjoy tossing the Frisbee while the good weather lasts. Cap off an evening of studying with a party or a movie. Take a day off.
5. Keep a journal. Even if it’s as mundane as what you ate for breakfast, getting something onto paper is a good way to beat writers’ block or build up momentum for an essay. Your writing may even take on a life of its own.
6. Seek divine guidance. Some do it through prayer, others through baser means. Either way, your chances of calling on divine assistance at one point in the semester are rather high, so you might as well get started now.
7. Just do it. If all else fails, just do it. Don’t look at me like that. You know what I’m talking about.
*Not really.
—Jesse Jones is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. He can be reached at jesse.g.jones@vanderbilt.edu
