Taking advantage of syllabus week

I truly bonded with my little-did-I-know best friend during syllabus week. Syllabus week is a small gift between the free time to get better acquainted on campus before the boom of real-life college work begins.

The largest part of syllabus week to take advantage of is meeting new people, especially in your dorm. While you collected tons of little slips during Quad Day for clubs in your interest, welcome or informational meetings won’t begin until the first week of September, typically.

Syllabus week is a time to meet people that may have completely other interests than you.

Floor activities may seem awkward or you may feel “too cool for that,” but everyone is a freshman too, going through a similar experience. Meeting people is a lot easier during this time because everyone is in the same shoes — just looking to meet someone new.

Some activities, like speed friending, may seem awkward, but it makes you feel much more comfortable in the long run because you’ll be living next to these people for an entire year — don’t alienate yourself!

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Finding friends within your dorm can truly make the college experience feel like home — whether you’re coming out from a long day at work, a study session at the Undergraduate Library or a night out at Murphy’s with friends, it always helps to see a smiling face walk past you in the hallway.

When the going gets tough, the friends you make in your hallway can really be there for you.

Syllabus week is also a great opportunity to explore campus. Walk the campus and get a feel for where the buildings are, so if you are ever on the go and need to get to a building fast, you are familiar with the area.

Also, take time to explore Green Street and some of the hot spots in Champaign-Urbana. Once the papers begin, it’s unlikely that you’ll have tons of time to just explore but only time to go to your favorite locations — so figure out where they are now!

Lastly, attend a football game, particularly in Block I if you can score the tickets. There’s no better school spirit activity to make you feel like an Illini than sitting on the bench, decked out in orange and blue and chanting for the team.

Megan is a sophomore in Media. She can be reached at [email protected].