The Hardest Step: The First Day of Classes

               There are many first steps in our lives.  Some we anticipate and can’t wait to take on our own.  Some that our family or friends can’t wait for us to take; they wait and wait, hoping to be on hand when the day is at hand.  As a new Mom, I anxiously awaited the day my son would take his first step.  Each wobble along the couch was a potential first moment.  While I was anxious that day, nothing compared to the nervousness and queasiness that accompanied my first day in a college classroom. 

                I don’t recall a great deal about the first day for each class, but, man, my first math class in college left a lasting impression…and it wasn’t how to find sin or cosine.  I took the class later in the day, around 5:30.  When I walked in my professor was a small man with glasses who barely looked up.  He wasn’t even half the issue (well, at least, not then).  The class was full.  I was running late (a personal flaw that haunts me even now).  Not only was the class full, but almost all the students were older than I was.  As a newly minted high school graduate turned into new college student, I had no idea what a “non-traditional” student was or the fact that the people in the class wouldn’t all be new to college.  I wasn’t quite sure what to do or how to act.  These folks, including the few students who looked my age, were not newbies to college.  Since I had taken college prep classes in high school, I tested into a higher math than the students who were in the class with me.  Most of them had worked their way up from College Algebra into this course.  They knew the drill.  I was woefully unprepared, even though I had been an excellent student in high school. 

                What do I remember most about that day (night, actually)?  I felt out of place. Off my rhythm.  Out of step.  Except that I was in step.  I just had to find my footing.  Walking into that classroom was about as difficult as anything I have ever done.  But, I did it.  I made it through that Math 154 class.  You will do it too.  You have already taken so many steps to get here: applying, filling out the financial aid, talking with your advisor.  Don’t let stepping through that classroom door stop you.  Take that first and often hardest step.  After that, it’s a breeze.  Not until graduate school, did I feel that anxious about entering a classroom.  In fact, after that first semester of college, I couldn’t wait for the Schedule of Classes to come out for the next semester.  I had a turquoise folder where I kept all my Plan of Study information and I would gleefully pour over the Schedule to see what I needed and what I could take just because I was interested (I know, I know.  I like school!  I can’t help it.  I have been at it since I was a young girl making my younger sisters play school.  I was the teacher.  As if you needed to ask!).  I still have that turquoise folder filed away.  One little folder houses the story of many first steps.  I hope one of yours is into my classroom.

Dr. Brooks’ Student Success Tips for the First Day:

·         Walk in prepared with notebook, folder(s), pen, paper and book if you have purchased 
it. 

·        If you are feeling nervous, sit in the front.  This way you have fewer people who are looking directly at you if you have to talk. 

·         Make a friend!  Introduce yourself to someone.  You will feel better on Day 2 if you have someone you can say “Hi” and chat with to break the tension.

                       








                                        

© 2012 Jane E. Brooks

First Week of Class Experience

The first day of class you walk onto campus not really sure what to expect. You’re emotions are a mix of excitement, nervousness, and fear. Once you finally find the room in which your class is in, you face the decision of where to sit. Do I sit up front where the professor will possibly call me out? What about the middle where I will more than likely be surrounded by other students? Or there’s always the back where I can just disappear and not have to speak to anyone… More likely than not, new students always go straight to the back of the room. I was no different. I was extremely shy and I felt out of place. I had always been in classes with students I have known my whole life, but I was now in a room full of strangers. I’m the type of student who never wants to show up late to class because professors really hate it when students do that. So there I sat waiting for the professor to come in, all the while watching as students started to pour into the room. I looked at each one of them as they entered hoping I would recognize at least one face. All the students just sat there in silence. No one really wants to be the first one to say anything. Finally the professor walked in and my first official college course began.

Most professors will joke and say they do the traditional first day of class “getting to know you” exercise. The students go around the room and introduce themselves by saying their name, major, and what year they are in college. I know this sounds silly because, come on, you’re in college now! It actually is a useful exercise not only for the professor, but also the students. You finally get to put names to the faces of the people who are no longer strangers, but rather your classmates. I did this exercise in all the way through to the last semester of my senior year. Once you are done with this, the professor will typically go through their syllabus. One thing new students should learn right away about college courses is that the syllabus becomes your life line. It is full of the essential information that you will need to know to survive the semester. The syllabus has information like your professor’s name, e-mail, phone number, office location, and open office hours as well as the tentative schedule for the semester, the grading policy, and any other information the professor sees as important. Most students go into thinking that the first week of class is just a blow off week. Don’t start the semester thinking this way! Depending on who your professor is, the first day of class may consist of nothing more than just the “getting to know you” exercise and going over the syllabus. For others, you may already have a hand cramp by the end of the class because of all the notes you took.

Once class is over you may have a break or another class, depending on how you set up your schedule. I was always the student that scheduled my classes back to back to back. I liked it that way because I didn’t know anyone on campus really so I wanted to spend as little time as possible on campus. As soon as I was done for the day, I left and went home. I didn’t really study much that first week, but I later learned that this is not the way to go. During that first week, you should try to familiarize yourself with the schedule and get started on whatever you can. Just because it’s the first week of class does not mean you should not do any studying. Sometimes professors will have assignments due at the end of the week, while others will have exams during the second or third week of classes. Just always stay one step ahead.

I know this all probably sounds very overwhelming and I get that. I have been there. Trust me when I say it will all be okay. The semester gets better. You will make friends and have that awesome college experience you want. When I was first starting out I wish I would have had someone tell me what I could expect in that first week of class. It’s perfectly normal to feel out of place or scared, but you don’t have to be. Everyone here will be feeling the same way. Just try to relax and enjoy the start of the next step in your life.

©Kelsey Jordan