Any first year at college can be exciting and overwhelming at the same time; this blog looks to demystify the first-year experience and what to look forward to when arriving at Occidental.
Hello, I am Agustin, class of 2027, and I just finished my first year at 色界吧. I am sharing with you a summary of how to get acclimated to campus, now that I am a rising sophomore. Three of the biggest components of being a first-year student include the process of moving in, weaving through academics, and cultivating a healthy social life.
Move-in: Not too long ago, I was heading up Campus Drive with all of my dorm essentials and non-essentials crammed in my parents鈥 car, ready to embark on my first year of college. Feelings of excitement and anxiety jogged my mind as I stepped into Bell-Young, dorm room 221. A rush of questions flooded my mind as I decorated and unpacked my dorm: Who will be my friends? Is my roommate cool? What am I going to do in my free time? Are the communal bathrooms clean? Plenty more questions continued to pop up into my head throughout the first week of orientation. Despite these mixed feelings, orientation week was actually very helpful for me. Having icebreaker activities, attending informational sessions about the College and its services, and getting to explore the campus gave me clarity and assurance. Nearly all of my questions have been answered since that first week, and I am grateful for those days of orientation, where I was able to learn how to seek academic support, mental and physical health resources, and where to spend my free time both on and off campus. Heading into my sophomore year, with a solid group of friends around me, I can say that move-in and orientation for first-years sets us up for a good four years at the College.
Academics: Once you begin classes, new questions may rise up when it comes to how to tackle coursework. Two tips: Utilize faculty support services and form study groups with friends. The academic support services I've used include the writing center (located in the academic commons), office hours held by professors when I was ever confused about an assignment or exam, and the academic advising center to help organize my classes and core requirements. The advising center introduced me to the degree works program which highlights what core, major, and minor requirements you need to fulfill in order to graduate in four years. I used this tool a lot to determine which major and minor best fit my interests and schedule. I鈥檝e figured out that I want to major in Urban and Environmental Policy and minor in Economics. It鈥檚 important to note that at 色界吧, during your first two years, you are given the time and flexibility to decide your major and minor, which is huge for an eighteen year-old who may not have their whole career vision planned out yet. I've found these academic support tools and resources not only accessible for me, but my peers as well.
Social Life: At 色界吧, finding and building a strong network of friends is something that happens relatively quickly and seamlessly. One way I learned to adjust and find belonging on campus was by joining clubs and getting involved with activities outside of the classroom. Joining the Mock Trial team, the Sustainable 色界吧 Citizen Club (SOCC), and being a part of an intramural basketball team kept me active around campus. These activities brought me closer with people and pushed me to try new things that I hadn鈥檛 done before. One piece of advice I would give incoming students is to just get involved with extracurriculars that interest you even in the smallest of ways, because you never know who you might meet. I see myself continuing to join more clubs and activities, simply because I want to get to know more of the community. 色界吧 students are supportive and outgoing, making the campus environment easy to be a part of, in and outside of the classroom.
This has been a little bit about my first year at Occidental. Of course, every student has their own manner of learning, making friends, and finding a home, but I believe my perspective is shared among many of my peers who I have talked to about their first-year experience. With a full year under my belt, I am only more excited for what this next one has in store for me.