Life as a First Year at the U

Lucy Christensen here, and I am a student advocate at the Financial Wellness Center (FWC). I will be starting my sophomore year this fall semester at the U with a major in international studies. Growing up, I heard many exciting and nerve-racking stories about what college life would be like. These stories, like for many others, built a perception of what I should expect for my freshman year.

However, I soon discovered from last year, for both the best and hardest reasons, that my experience would be quite different from what is shown on TV. The reality of college life turned out to be a mix of surprising challenges and rewarding moments that completely shaped and changed me to be who I am today. I'm very excited to share some of the many things I have learned (especially the hard way) during my freshman year! I hope my experiences can offer guidance and encouragement to those starting on their own college journey.

Time Management: Balancing your time is bigger in college for me than it ever was in high school. In college, your schedule is sometimes less routine than what most students are used to, and it takes a while to adjust. Two months into my freshman year, I learned how important it would be for me to develop a schedule in order to finish my homework, study for my classes, participate in extracurricular activities, have time for the gym, and still hang out with friends and family. Having set times every week for when I would study with friends or be able to sleep in a little bit longer was something I had to learn to schedule.

Walking: One of the many reasons I chose to continue my education at the University of Utah was because of the beautiful campus and size of the undergrad student population here. Along with that came the realization that the campus itself was more than 1,500 acres. At the beginning of this semester, since I lived on the upper campus, I was unfamiliar with the shuttle system, and trying to explore the place I hoped to call home, I ended up walking 6–8 miles on average a day. As one can imagine, that was not a sustainable thing to continue long-term, and I quickly learned how to navigate the campus. What worked best for me besides having the resources of a car was utilizing UTA (whether that was the bus, trax, or the frontrunner), staying on campus between classes, or best of all, downloading the app TransLoc to show the location and routes of the campus shuttles.

Reading: As many other students have experienced, I used to enjoy reading books and other forms of literature; however, as I began to grow up, I had less time to spend reading. Going into college, I was unaware of the increase in reading that each class would bring. Being aware and making time to read the articles and readings that the professor provides for their course is crucial when hoping to do well.

Friends: Making friends in postsecondary education was another way of life I had to adapt to. I came to the University of Utah, hoping to find friends with similar interests and hobbies to keep me active in doing the things I love. I learned that if you go to participate in classes you have an interest in or many other things that can be outside of school, you’ll find other students there who have similar interests. For example, I wanted to meet more students in the honors college who I could study with and grow stronger academically, so I began to attend honors events, and there I was able to meet many more students who would later become my close friends.

On Campus Employment: Having a part-time job my freshman year was something I was open to, especially second semester. When looking for jobs on campus, I was unaware of the application deadlines that would affect my employment status. If you are a college student, especially a freshman looking for employment on campus, keep in mind that, like many scholarship deadlines, job applications and internships have their openings begin before the semester, and students who are selected to work at that location are chosen before the semester starts. This is not the case for all, but overtime I began to see this trend, and if you are looking for something more to become involved in, then watch for when those deadlines.

Scholarships: As an out-of-state student hoping to avoid student loans, I began to search for scholarships that the University of Utah provides. There are many academic scholarships that are applied for, such as the Western Undergraduate Exchange scholarship that students receive upon applying to U; however, there are many other leadership programs that you can become involved in that offer scholarship opportunities. Finding the clubs and organizations you have a passion for could also lead to an opportunity to have a lowered tuition.

Listed above are some of the many things I learned throughout my experience as a freshman at the University of Utah. I learned so much and cannot wait for my sophomore year to begin. My favorite thing of my freshman year would be the people I connected with. As I became closer with my roommates, friends, professors, classmates, and coworkers, I truly learned many life lessons that I apply to my life daily because of their examples. Freshman year will be a roller coaster of emotions, adventures, and many other unexpected things you did not foresee coming, but making the most out of every day is what matters. 

University of Utah campus is full of great resources to check out and help you navigate your time here, make sure you learn about them. You can start with the Financial Wellness Center!

 

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