It’s my final semester here at BU. While I refuse to admit I’m g*******ing, I will admit to several mistakes I’ve made over almost 1,300 days at Boston University. While these are not detrimental, avoiding them can make your life so much easier during your time here.
- Don’t spend all the time with your roommates.
I love my roommates. I’ve loved all of them and some are my best friends. However, living with someone will most likely at some point put them on your nerves. It may be for something really small, but you will still want to have someone to talk about it. If you only have your roommates, this time will be unbearable. Everyone needs other people to reach out to. Lucky for you, there are so many on-campus organizations that you can be apart to find even more friends. Then, if your roommates forget to take out their trash, you can brush it right off.
- Actually explore outside the BU bubble. And not just Back Bay.
This one is hard to do after your freshman year. The more time you spend at BU, the less free time you have to explore all the amazing neighborhoods that Boston has to offer. While Comm Ave and Back Bay are amazing, take the Orange Line to Kendall Square or Red Line to the Seaport. There are so many unexplored places that lie just outside of the Green Line. Who knows? You may find your favorite place (mine is Brookline Booksmith or Naco Tacos).
- Take more than the required classes outside of COM.
I was so excited to get into my advertising classes that I didn’t even explore all parts of the course catalog. All of my classes served a specific purpose or requirement they fulfilled. Of course, each one was so valuable. But, I often wonder about what classes I missed just because I was hoping they would fulfill a specific credit.
Invest in good shoes.
I cannot stress this enough. According to all of my tech, I walk over an average of 60 miles a month, not including any time spent at FitRec. That is at least two miles a day; some days many, many more (and some days I don’t leave my bed). If you don’t have good shoes or socks, there will be a lot of times where the blisters catch up to you. Good shoes don’t have to be nerdy Dad shoes, there are plenty of stylish options that provide comfort and are still sleek.
While there are many other things that I would consider mistakes, I wouldn’t change them. Those mistakes have made my time at BU as memorable as it has been. Many of them from my first year don’t even seem like mistakes. You may be tired some mornings and kick yourself when you are walking to your 8 AM lecture, but those nights are the ones to remember.