Get to Know Your Campus
A college campus is a bit like a small town. If it is a residential college, it has places to live, eat, learn, engage in sports and recreation, get medical care and in many cases, even go shopping. And if you have ever moved to a new home as a child, you probably know that it can be a little disorienting to be in a new place and have everything feel unfamiliar and not know where things are.
One of the most helpful things you can do when you arrive at campus is to learn your way around. If you are living on campus, one of the first things you will find is your residence hall. Many schools will have campus walking tours during orientation. Take the tour. After that, use your residence hall as your home base and walk around and find the important places like food services, the buildings where your classes will be held, the gym and recreational facilities. Find out where the student union (this is typically the place where student clubs and other student activities meet), advising center, health center and counseling and basic shopping are located.
It is really helpful to walk around campus to get to know your way around. If you have a bike, that’ll help too. If your campus is in a town, after you’ve gotten a handle on your campus, walk or ride around town. Some older colleges are in historic towns or areas that have some interesting sites.
Learning your way around campus will help you to begin to feel comfortable in your new surroundings and will ease the transition for you.
To learn more about adjusting to your new campus and to life in college, check out this book!