With this year’s incoming freshman class being the largest in University’s history, the fresh faces moving into the residence halls could potentially have the hardest time trying not to get lost in the crowd.
The amount of people and experiences new students can encounter is greater than ever, making the first week of college very important. The first week will most likely set the foundation for the rest of the school year, and it all starts with the first step into the residence halls.
Divya Patel@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=divya+patel@@, an ex-resident assistant of Carson Residence Hall, said, “My biggest advice to any freshman is to keep an open mind. College is about change, growing and expanding your horizons, and without an open mind none of those are accomplishable.”
Patel said the people new freshmen meet in college will have one of the biggest impacts on their lives.
“The people you meet in college will challenge you, take you out of your comfort zone. They will motivate you; they will be your toughest competition, and your closest friends,” Patel said. “They will help shape you as a person, and no matter what you may think now, the friends you make in college will have a big impact on your life.”
Sophomore Tanner Heffner@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=tanner+heffner@@ shed some light on the reason why he had a good dorm experience.
“All the people in (the dorm) dude, I met so many nice people there, great friends. We just had great times all year,” Heffner said.
Fellow sophomore Paige Garcia@@http://directory.uoregon.edu/telecom/directory.jsp?p=findpeople%2Ffind_results&m=student&d=person&b=name&s=paige+garcia@@ doesn’t want new freshmen to get overwhelmed, but at the same time, to not slack off either.
“Just do the work, cause if you get behind, you’re drowning. Just do it, don’t complain, just do it,” Garcia said.
All three said one of the most important factors of the first week of school is the roommate experience. Most freshmen are meeting their roommates for the first time on their first day at school, and Patel said the relationship between roommates depends on how they approach it.
“I think that if something is bothering a roommate, they need to either talk to their roommate about it or their RA. Letting things build up inside of you just leads to more anger and hostility,” Patel said.
Patel understands it could be a little intimidating to speak to an RA, but in reality they are in the same boat as the freshmen.
“Having 80 residents moving in is very tough because all I could think about was how I was going to connect with everyone and if my residents were going to like me as their RA,” Patel said. “So in essence, the residents moving in and the RA both have the same initial feelings.”
Patel says residence hall events are a great way to meet people, and they’re good for something else as well.
“Attending all the free functions put on by RA is a great way to not only meet people, but to get lots and lots of free food,” Patel said.