The "give Lina College Advice" Thread

[Basilisa Marie]

OH! Is Sundress Thursdays still a thing?  I hope it's still a thing.  

[MissyP89]

Stay out of your room. Go exploring. Go on adventures. Do things. 

 

It goes by too fast. I went to community college for 2 years before transferring to my alma mater, and in so many ways I wish it were possible for me to start there at 18.

 

Cherish every moment. Don't overeat. Keep praying. Be fearless.

 

Audio recorders (most laptops and smartphones have them) are big helps for lectures and notetaking.

 

It's OK to ask for help.

 

Be silly.

 

Don't let anyone tell you who you should be.

[LinaSt.Cecilia2772]

First off, welcome to the Mount community! 

 

Go to 10pm daily mass at Pang Chapel regularly. It's a good crowd, and it's a great time for daily mass if you can't make the 7 (or 7:30, I can't remember) seminarian mass at IC or the noon mass in Kane Chapel.

 

Be wary of the FOCUS Missionaries. Not that they're bad, but there's some unnecessary drama that comes with the whole FOCUS crew. They're nice enough, but stay away from actually joining their little team or whatever.

 

Get to know seminarians and priests. They're cool. There's really nothing else to say on that point.

 

Explore Frederick and Adams counties. There's a nice little 24/6 (no Sundays) Adoration chapel on Tract Road up in PA. Tract starts in Emmitsburg though, on 140.

 

Join the Militia Immaculata. They say a rosary every week, and it's a good way to meet cool devout undergrads and seminarians, as there are a few who run it.

 

If you can, go on a Kairos Retreat. 

 

Heck, go on any retreat you can.

 

Get to know your professors. They're all really great. Well, no, that's not entirely true. But a lot of them are, and you'll figure out who is cool pretty quick.

 

Make time for Café runs, but be careful not to spend all your dining dollars (or whatever they're called now, they changed the meal plans the year after I left).

 

Don't feel too pressured to "get involved". You'll make great friends no matter what, and you don't want to overburden yourself with too many activities. You still have classes, after all.

 

If you're up late and can't get to sleep, go on a rosary walk by yourself around campus. It's incredibly peaceful late at night, and it's quite prayerful. Depending on how fast you pray, you can probably finish up the concluding prayers or even the last full decade in IC, while kneeling in front of the Mary altar. That was always my favorite way to complete a late night rosary walk. Then I'd just walk back leisurely to my dorm, enjoying the night.

 

And last of all, enjoy it. The Mount is a great place, with a great community. And you'll meet some of, if not your absolute, best friends there. 

 

 

OH EM GEE WHAT BUILDING ARE YOU IN?   I'm a former Sheridan RA, so, I have mucho experience with the...er...idiosyncrasies of that place.

 

I second everything GeorgiiMichael said.  

 

In addition...

 

Go on a CRUX trip. Go on a few. You'll rarely have an opportunity to go rock climbing or snow shoeing or rafting or caving for such a little fee (same thing applies to music lessons, like piano or another instrument, it's something ridiculously low). You should do a couple before you graduate. :)

 

You don't have to be best friends with your roommate(s), but you do have to live together. If you haven't filled it out already, take your roommate contract seriously. Be upfront with things you're comfortable or uncomfortable with (whether it be food or lights or boys staying past quiet hours [yes, that's not allowed, but since when do all people follow rules just because they're rules?]). If you have a problem with your roommate, don't just smell of elderberries it up and let it fester.  Try to talk to her, and if that doesn't work, talk to your RA. RAs are trained in conflict mediation. 

 

Almost all the professors (I'd say all, but that's not entirely true) really, really want to see their students succeed. If you're struggling with something, take advantage of their office hours, dropping in or making an appointment. Seriously, it can make all the difference in the world, including to your GPA. I speak from personal experience.  They'll usually go easier on you if they can tell you're making an effort. 

Along the same lines, there is absolutely no shame in getting a tutor.  Not everyone is good at everything.  I tutored people in theology, and was tutored by a friend in philosophy, particularly metaphysics and epistemology.  

GeorgiiMichael might be able to speak to this too, but for my year, Freshman year was a huge time of experimenting and reinventing yourself.  Lots of people were trying new things and expanding their comfort zones, trying to figure out who they were and what they wanted to do.  Like he said, don't feel like you have to do EVERYTHING or hyper-extend yourself, but be open to trying new stuff.  A lot of people will change over the course of four years, including yourself. 

 

Program Public Safety's non-emergency number into your phone.  You'll need it, at least for when you get locked out of your building. I was a chronic offender. :)  Bring your ID EVERYWHERE.  

Along those lines, if you or someone you know or some random stranger you see gets in trouble and needs help, get an RA or call Public Safety yourself.  Ignore anyone who says that you'll get in trouble too if you report something.  And if you happen to be in the wrong place in the wrong time and get "written up" (it happened once to my most straight-laced, god-fearing resident), don't worry, it's not the end of the world, just explain things when you go to the residence life office for your meeting. 

When it snows, I've heard that lunch trays make good sleds.  Not that I'd ever condone such behavior.  On a similar note, don't leave your work to the last minute.  You don't want to be the only person missing out on a huge snowball fight in the Quad because you still have to write your essay. 

Only freshmen wear their lanyards. :)

 

If you fly from home to school, the Mount's shuttle service is the most unhelpful, terrible, expensive thing ever. Offer your friend half the price of the shuttle to take you to the airport, fly out of Baltimore, and you'll be set.  If you drive, ignore this.  Also if you drive, parking tickets add up fast if you don't pay attention.  

The printers at the library will ALWAYS break when you have to print out your SUPER IMPORTANT paper and have TWO MINUTES before class starts.  If you get in a pinch like that, email it to your professor instead, so you have proof that you have it done in time, then asap print out a copy and bring it by their office. 

 

Use the library.  

AHHH I"M SO EXCITED FOR YOU you're going to have an amazing time.   :)

 

Both of you are AWESOME!!! I already see and feel how the Mount Is a special place!!!

 

I'm in The Terrace in Brute Hall. Apparently I'm lucky for being here because of the air conditioning, but there are only two floors of freshmen here and I kinda wish I was in Sheridan because that's where almost ALL the freshmen are. But it'll be okay because I'm already cool with my roommates and meeting a lot of new people anyway.

[PhuturePriest]

Dude, that's horrific.  I'd die of embarrassment in my sensitive little freshie state.    :hehe2:  

 

No, freshmen don't HAVE to wear their lanyards; they just do, because freshmen get to campus first for a few days of orientation activities, and lanyards are meant to be worn.  Over the first month or two people realize that people keep their keys and lanyard in their pocket or purse or purchase a tiny Vera Bradley bag for their cards and keychain.  

 

Oh, I would love it. I don't really have the ability to feel embarrassment, and I love making people laugh, no matter how embarrassing people think it is. :P

 

However, you only have to wear your beanie for orientation week. But, there is a tradition of wearing your beanie under your cap at graduation.

[God the Father]

I recently graduated from Catholic school and I can tell you, you'll figure most things about pretty fast, so don't worry too much about being unprepared. There's only three things I think I would have benefited from knowing ahead of time:

 

 

 

 

1) Gym

2) Tan

3) Laundry

[ChristinaTherese]

I don't want to read what everyone's said, but here's what I can think of off the top of my head:

 

Some professors are going to seem more annoying than they are. Go to their offices and talk to them if you have problems. They could be really understanding and nice people, so give them the chance to be so.

 

Professors can be great people. I've really enjoyed getting to know a few of them just as people, outside of class. Don't be afraid of that. (I was just talking to a professor whose class I dropped out of in the second of three quarters about The Lord of the Rings and stuff at the bus stop one day in the Spring. And for a while I was stopping by one of my favorite professors' office just about ever quarter, not because I had a class with him or anything, but just because I liked talking to him.)

 

On that note, profs really want to help students succeed. Go to office hours if you're having problems.

 

Go to the Academic Support Center (or whatever they call it) if you need help. They likely have tutoring times for low level (first year or so) classes, or they might have lists of tutors you can work with. They probably offer help with papers, too. In the chem study tables (my school's term for tutoring sessions) I have seen plenty of chem majors, and I made a habit of going to the study tables to do my lab reports for a while, just so that I could ask for help if anything came up, so don't be ashamed to ask for help.

 

Don't slack off on your spiritual life. I hope that that's a no brainer and you're better about that than me, but don't ignore God, even for just a few weeks. It's no fun. But you're Catholic, and going to a Catholic school, so you probably are a good ways ahead of where I was freshman year. (It was only maybe 3 or 4 weeks... I don't remember. But it was so wonderful to go back to Mass.... And I found that prayer was the best way to combat stress from school, FWIW.)

 

And although I suppose this will happen anyway, and in its own time, I'll add one last thing. Make a good friend or two that you can really talk to.