Get your work done, but have fun: that seems to be the common theme of your first semester of your freshman year, or perhaps for every semester of your college career.

Jacob Sagmoe, a senior at UNCW, states, “College is about grades, yes, but it is also about meeting new people and finding out things about yourself. But the grades are the most important things.”

The first semester of your college experience is pretty scary, yet it’s also one of the most pivotal times in your college career. How do you know what to expect? How do you know how to act? There are many thoughts that go through one’s head as they prepare for the first day of classes and to make things a little easier, here is a list of dos and don’ts for your first semester:

Do go to the Involvement Carnival.

The Involvement Carnival is one of the biggest events of the entire fall semester with on-campus organizations, UNCW departments, religious organizations, community service agencies, and local businesses all taking place.

Alyssa Smith, a sophomore at UNCW, states, “That [the Involvement Carnival] is where I learned about the sorority I am in as well as Watson Student Leaders. Everyone should attend the Involvement Fair because there is literally something for everyone to get involved in at UNCW.”

The carnival gives UNCW students a chance to see all of the many ways that they can get involved, plus there is free stuff such as pizza, ice cream, and t-shirts. What college student doesn’t like freebies?

Don’t forget to exercise and be active.

The Freshman 15 is a real thing, plus with the stress of school, getting regular exercise is important. UNCW’s Student Recreation Center offers “Group Exercise/Fitness Programs, Intramural Sports, Aquatics, Adventure Recreation Programs, and Sports Clubs. Campus Recreation at UNCW takes a ‘something for everyone’ approach to programming.”

With your UNCW One Card, the recreation center is covered in your tuition for each session that you are enrolled in courses at UNCW. Take advantage of the services that if offers and if lifting weights or group exercise isn’t necessarily your thing, getting involved in intramural sports is always an option.

Lanier states that in addition to playing basketball, running, or lifting weights at the recreation center, he “also played intramural sports both in the gym and on the intramural fields.”

Don’t fret over declaring a major.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 80 percent of college students in the United States will change their major at least once and on average, students change their major three times over the course of their college career.  

At UNCW, you aren’t required to declare a major until the end of your sophomore year and the minimum requirement is to have earned and passed a 24-hour semester with at least a 2.0 GPA

Don’t think you can get by with procrastinating and without sleep.

Waiting until the last minute in college won’t get you where you need to be. In fact, it will likely leave you sleep deprived.

“Sleep is more important than cramming,” Segmoe stated, “if it is 2 a.m. the day of the exam and you still have another chapter to annotate, go to bed [because] whatever sleep you get is more valuable than that chapter.”

In high school, procrastinating on every assignment might have been easy, but in college, waiting until the last minute will only leave you sleep-deprived, stressed, and struggling to pass.

Do go to your professor’s office hours.

At UNCW, the student to professor ratio is 17:1 and 30.2 percent of classes have fewer than 20 students in them.  If you don’t understand something, send your professor an email to set up a time to meet. Not only will they be happy to help, but the one on one time can make a large difference for many students.

“[Our professors here] are really nice and always willing to help you,” stated Smith.

Don’t resent being required to live on campus for your first academic year.

Being required to live on campus your first year may seem unreasonable, but living on campus has its perks. Smith and Lanier offered a perspective from living in Cornerstone Hall, a co-ed dorm on campus.

Smith stated, “I stayed in Cornerstone Hall and lived in a room on the all girls floor with one other girl. It was close quarters for sure, but I loved getting that true college experience.”

Lanier stated, “I really enjoyed the experience. It was a very nice dorm for freshmen and was co-ed. I was fine with sharing one large bathroom with the entire hall also. My roommate and I had our arguments but remained friends after the year was over.”

Segmoe looked back on his dorm experience with humor as he stated, “[I lived in] Galloway. I personally loved living [there]. Yes, it smelled. Yes, there were science experiments growing in the shower tiles… Galloway allowed me to make friends in ways nothing else here could have.”

While living on campus might not have been your first choice if you were given the decision, it’s proven that living on campus allows you to become more involved and helps you meet new people and make new friends.