Aidan: Branching Out For Second Semester

When I got home for the first Winter Break of my college experience, I reflected upon my first semester as a Freshman with a feeling of great content. I had found a great club (BU On Broadway, a musical theatre group . . . not to push it or anything) that yielded me a wonderful group of friends and an amazing freshman experience. I became so involved in the group time-wise my first semester that I started to think of the opportunities I didn’t take when I started out at BU. To combat this, I decided to make my second semester one of new experiences, clubs, and opportunities. Here is some advice I would give to anybody who wants to freshen up his or her second semester:

1. Give that other club another go.

Remember all the organizations you signed up to join at Splash? Like me, you probably didn’t stick with the majority of activities you went to info sessions for. This second semester, reflect on one standout organization that really impressed you, but you didn’t follow through on. Get info, and give it one more go. It can turn out to be a worthwhile investment of your time.

 2. Don’t be afraid to give it your all

A lot of the groups that will have the most impact on your life will at first seem the most demanding and selective. Also, you may not get the role in the organization that you want right off the bat. That’s okay. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” right? Stick with it. After a semester, people in that group will know you and your abilities, and you will be more likely to be doing the cooler stuff. And a side note: if you know you have the skills to get any job done, make that known, and show them how it is done.

 3. You don’t have to completely abandon what you already know and love

So, you found a great club your first shot at bat in first semester. Dude, that’s totally great, and I feel for you. Just because you want to branch out doesn’t mean you need to leave it behind. Stay involved, even if in a small role. It will keep you engaged and up to date, and means you can return to it full force at some other time and not be rusty.

Dany: The First Week

Well, it’s official. You guys are officially college students! I hope your first week has been going fantastic and you’re enjoying all your classes and meeting a ton of people and just having an awesome time.

I can’t believe I’ve only been back in Boston for a few days. So much has been going on that it feels like I’ve been back for weeks. Before I even got back to campus, I was already busy getting things ready for PC’s first events. I hope some of you were able to come out to our Drive-In Movie event on Saturday night! We played “The Avengers” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and it was a great success. I landed on Saturday morning, spent half of the afternoon semi-unpacking and then went straight to work on setting everything up. Time is definitely not wasted at BU!

Sunday was SPLASH and I had lovely chats with a lot of you at the PC table. As secretary, I now have a stack of sign-up sheets to go through and get our listserv going for the new year. It’s a lot of work but I’m so excited for our first general interest meeting coming up soon. Definitely hope to see some of you there!

We have so many awesome events this semester for you guys. Our next big one is of course Childish Gambino this Friday at Metcalf! It’s going to be an awesome show and it’s only $15 with your BU ID! Tickets are online and they’re going pretty fast which is good news for us. We always want to make sure that we’re giving students the best events we possibly can and when a response is so overwhelmingly positive, we know we’re doing the right thing!

Anyway, my schedule has been nonstop since I got here and I really wouldn’t have it any other way. Life has just been a blur of PC, COM, Admissions, classes, catching up with friends, completing my study abroad application, checking out the new dining hall, and revisiting my favorite Boston locales. It’s a miracle I have time to breathe, honestly. I hope you all have a chance to get involved with everything you signed up for at SPLASH. Take advantage this year and go to as many meetings as you can! Find out what really interests you and stick with it. There’s no reason to ever be bored in Boston. Trust me.

As always, feel free to reach out to me if you have questions about anything I’m involved in or just general classes, life, etc. Good luck these next few weeks! And have fun!

Mike: Advice for the Class of 2016

Hey guys!

So I’m currently writing this from the beautiful island of Martha’s Vineyard. My family and I vacation here every summer and it has become one of my favorite places on earth. If you haven’t been, make a trip! It’s just a quick ferry trip off the coast of Massachusetts.

Can you believe it's already August 3rd? This summer has really flown by. Anyways, I know all of you incoming freshmen must be getting nervous/anxious to start BU in just a couple of weeks. By now, I’m sure you’ve all been in contact with your respective roommates. Make sure to talk to each other about what to bring for the room—I highly recommend a fan(s) for your room. Despite the freezing winter in Boston, it was brutally hot the first couple of weeks up in my room freshman year, (albeit I was on the top floor in Claflin) but a fan was definitely my savior.

My biggest piece of advice for you guys is to get involved. Don’t worry if you don’t become best friends with your floor mates (in fact, I barely keep in touch with anyone from my floor freshman year), instead, go to SPLASH, and find an activity or group that you are interested in. I met my closest friends at school through the student groups that I was part of on campus. Whether it be Greek life, student government, theater, intramural sports, BUTV, or even a club devoted to people watching, BU has something for everybody! It is your job to put yourself out there and find something that you like. You will find that you have a lot of free time in college. Your schedule is completely different from high school. Fill your time with fun activities and meet people who share your similar interests!

I’m jealous that I won’t be around this semester to experience the brand new Marciano Commons dining facility (click here to check it out!) All of you will get to enjoy this mega dining hall along with Warren and West. Other new additions to Comm Ave? Pinkberry right in the GSU! With Jamba Juice, Starbucks, and now Pinkberry, you guys really do have it made. If you are craving some Thai, I suggest heading down to West campus to grab some Brown Sugar (In my opinion, it trumps Noodle Street and Nud Pob!)

Even though I’ll be across the country in Los Angeles this semester, it doesn’t mean I’m not available to answer any of your questions or concerns. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any doubts or questions about your first semester. Good luck to you all and I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my LA adventures!