If you’re anything like me your ‘relaxing final summer’ is more of a whirlwind of packing, goodbyes, family vacations, and more packing. Orientation just became one of the added stressors of last summer, so here’s a few things that will hopefully help put you at ease.
First off, you don’t have to meet your best friends at orientation and figure out every single person you’re going to speak to for the next four years. If you do congrats, if you don’t, you’re not alone. Orientation is so jam packed with information and just getting your feet wet at BU that it can be a lot to take in. Don’t get me wrong, play the ice breakers, be social, and make some connections, but also use it as a time to get familiar with your surroundings and answer some of the bigger questions you still have. There will be plenty of time to make all kinds of friends when you get there this fall.
It also doesn’t hurt to do a little research on the Boston University website so you have some idea of what classes you’ll want to take first semester. Before you get too stressed out, there’s going to be tons of expert counselors to walk you through it as well. Be ready for your language placement tests if you’re hoping to skip through some of the beginner courses as well. It doesn’t hurt to take a quick review of some of your old high school notes from Spanish, German, or etc.
I realize this can sound a bit overwhelming, but trust me, it all works out. For my own orientation, I spiked a fever the morning I arrived at the dorms, which followed me through the next forty-eight hours spent on campus. I still arranged a pretty clutch schedule, answered a few last minute questions, and got an idea of what the upcoming fall would feel like. I was feeling less than social and I probably didn’t look like the most approachable person either, but even I managed to meet a few people that really helped me get my footing at school in the fall. Even if you don’t have a ton in common, it’s just nice to know someone who’s in your same shoes. If I survived, so will you and in the mean time just try to enjoy some nice weather with family and friends.
As for myself, coming home for the summer seemed like a really great idea when I left for college last fall, but after having spent two semesters at Boston, coming home then sounded a little less than appealing. I would much rather relocate my family and friends to Boston than relocate myself–and a years worth of clothes back– home. Yet here I am, one month later, home at last.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania, my hometown, is a suburban soccer mom’s paradise, which also means it’s a college kids nightmare. After racing through my summer to do list (gathering furniture for my apartment next year, making job plans for next fall since I’m also a broke college kid, finally setting up a LinkedIn profile and all that important nonsense that feels more like busy work than actual work) I am finally shipping out of Lancaster. Long story short, my roommate and I were both in the same boat for this summer and miraculously pieced together a summer trip throughout Europe that wouldn’t make us too much broker than we already were and would still offer us an escape from our hometowns before we were too burnt out on summer. So in two weeks I’m shipping out to Madrid and that’s my plan for the next couple of weeks till I have to come home in August and repack everything I just finished unpacking.
