First Year Road Map: Charter Your Course

I'm not the best at directions, I'm always getting lost! My GPS is constantly "recalculating" since I

always seen to fail at going in the right direction.

This was especially true when I first started here at York. I got lost, hopelessly lost in the sauce here on campus. 60,000 students means that the chance of getting lost are even greater. Have no fear though, I'm here for you! Here's my roadmap for your first year. This is the absolute minimum you'll need to know to navigate York in your first year.


North to Find Answers
1. ASK QUESTIONS!!
--If you sort of know, think you might know or have NO CLUE at all about what's going on...ASK! There's no shortage of people that are there to help you; your faculty/ department, advising offices and past students are great resources to help when you're lost at your enrolment appointments or academically once you get started in the fall. If you're lost and don't ask questions then no one can help you find your way. Don't be afraid people are a lot more friendly on
campus then you might think. Take that leap and ask your questions, I can almost guarantee that if you have a question then there will be at least 2-3 other people sitting in your enrolment appointment or lecture with the same question. So be brave and ask away!

South to Services
2. Use the free services to stay on top of your work.
--There's SOO much that York offers to ALL students to help them adjust and succeed at university! Take advantage of the FREE services like the learning skills workshops, I'm not embarrassed to say
that my note taking skills were not the greatest in my first year. After my first midterms I KNEW I had to turn it around and so I took pretty much all of the skills workshops and learned how to take notes in class, how to write a strong thesis for university and how to structure my work to get my point across!

West to Withdraw Information
3. Visit the RED Zone for any and everything you need to know about YorkU.
--Here at The RED Zone it's our job and our passion to answer any and all questions you might have regarding life here at York. So if you're ever lost or unsure feel free to ask us just about anything. We might not be able to tell you the meaning of life... but we can help you figure out how to make your life
at York meaningful for you (We also give directions so if you're literally lost come and ask us how to find your classes :D)!!

East to Establish Connections
4. Get involved
--It might seem a little overwhelming to get involved in a community the size of York's but I promise it will be worth the risk you take in putting yourself out there! Getting involved can be as simple as joining a club and attending a couple of the events they host throughout the year. If you visit the RED
Zone this summer then you'll be signed up for YU Connect, York's social media hub. There you're able to browse through all of the clubs that we have. When to visit the RED Zone you join the York is U organization, which hosts TONS on events throughout the school year that are ideal for first years to volunteer for since the commitment level is what you make of it. With York is U, you can volunteer for a few hours at a single event all the way to coordinating entire events, it's really up to you! I can't tell you how important getting involved is on campus, it really means all the difference between surviving at York and thriving at York!

I hope that you can find some way to use my roadmap in your first year. Just know that whenever you feel alone or lost you always have someone there to support you. York is all about student success, so if you need help with anything feel free to stop by and visit the RED Zone either in person in Vari Hall or online!

Also if you have any questions about what I've mentioned in this post feel free to comment below!

Until next time, remember to take it one day at a time and catch me in the zone!

Nicole