Now that I’m a Senior, I can look back on my entire school experience with a certain amount of clarity and criticism. As a transfer, I’ve enjoyed every moment I’ve had at Nazareth, but with hindsight I would say there are a few things I’d do differently; even a few things I think I did right that I wish I would have done sooner. With all that in mind, here are few pointers for all of you out there that are considering your future college career.
Get Involved
It took me far too long to get involved in clubs and recreational activities that I actually enjoy. I was initially overwhelmed by my academic requirements; I found that I initially wanted to spend my free time lounging around and watching Netflix, and not much else. This habit was initially very satisfying but got pretty boring after a while; when I would complain about my boredom to fellow students they would suggest joining one of the recreational teams like soccer or frisbee, but I would generally ignore them. Now, as a senior, I’m involved in the Marketing Club, the Student Veterans Association, Golden Creative (Naz’s student-run marketing agency), and I play Frisbee with the Ultimate Team every week. Doing these things will allow you to get to know your classmates better and expand your college experience.
Space Out Your Curriculum
Scheduling each semester can be a bit of a pain, and it’s not always obvious what you should do. Your advisor will help you sort everything out during your program evaluation to make sure you take everything you need to, but your main priority should be trying not to clump too many core classes together. Your progress and requirements can all be viewed online which makes keeping track of your courses as simple as possible. Nazareth offers a large array of liberal arts courses ranging from religion to philosophy, all of which are incredibly engaging. In one semester I took two marketing courses, two management courses, and one liberal arts course; this was too much business curriculum for one semester and it almost made my brain explode. Sometimes clumping is inevitable, you have to take certain classes to complete your degree, but if you’re aware of the occurrence you can plan better to avoid it. I love Marketing, and have enjoyed every class that I’ve taken (it’s my major after all), but occasionally mixing it up with some of those fun philosophy classes keeps my day fresh and interesting, and has allowed me to meet great students and teachers in that department.
Avoid Mid-Day Naps
First off, this is something you will inevitably do at least once, and something you will see friends doing from time to time. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but you do not want to make a habit of it. We all have crazy weeks that wear us unusually thin, but doing classwork and assignments during mid-late afternoon is really the most efficient time to do it. At Naz, most students will be taking most of their classes from 10am-3pm, your friends included, and then doing other social things after. Naz is so small and cozy, which will make it easy to casually walk back to your dorm and lay down for “just a few minutes.” Developing a mid-day napping habit will inhibit your social life, cause you to be late to classes, and may mess up your actual sleep schedule. Plus, considering how many fun extracurriculars Naz has to offer, you really don’t want to miss out just because you accidentally fell into a wanky sleep schedule.
