It's your first class...don't know what to expect?

 You've had a good nights sleep...of tossing and turning and waking up every five minutes. Now it's 7:00am and you think...well it's as good a time as any to get ready to go to school. For the first time in your life you got ready in record time and you find yourself getting more and more nervous as the seconds turn to minutes and you know that your first University class is approaching.

Maybe you're getting a ride, maybe you're driving, maybe your busing, however you're getting to York you figure it's about time to get on the road. After braving traffic and long bus lines you FINALLY walk into Vari Hall and you look around and you see HUNDREDS of people buzzing around on their way to and from class. In that moment you might be thinking..."WHAT THE HECK DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!?" But you figure you better get out of the fray and find your class since it's about to start.

You're pretty sure you might get lost amongst all these people so you stop by the RED Zone and get directions. After a little chat with an RSA you find your class and you reach for the door, you're more nervous now than you ever remember being before. You see other people walking in so you put on a brave face and walk in as well.

Ok so here's what to expect in your first class.

1. Awkward Silence: On the first day (unless you went to frosh) there will be dead silence in class until the prof comes in. No one will know anyone else and so no one will want to talk, this will be very awkward so PREPARE yourself for this fact. 

2. Words of "encouragement" from the Professor: Prof's always say that their class will be the one that will challenge you. They always threaten that their class will be the hardest class you've ever taken. Don't let these threats intimidate you, professors want you to take their class seriously and so this is their way to give you a wake up call so you'll make the effort to do well.

3. Expect diversity: York has people from all walks of life, from all races, religions and creeds. Some people are from the city, some from small towns, some are international, some came from big high schools and other from small ones, some people are straight outta high school and some have taken a victory lap. Moral of the story there are TONS of different people.

   

4. Generally you won't have a full lecture on day 1: Most professors will introduce themselves, the TA's and hand out the official syllabus. The Prof will go through the syllabus from start to finish, answer any questions and give a run down of how they will be running their class. They might give a very short lecture after covering the syllabus.

5. Generally if you have a tutorial on the first day of school you won't actually have that tutorial: If you have a tutorial BEFORE you have attended your first class, you generally will not have to attend that tutorial. What I recommend is going to the tutorial anyway just to make sure you know where it is so that the next time you have it you won't be late because you got lost. As a rule if no one shows up within 10 mins of the official start time of the class you are allowed to leave. 

Hopefully by the end of day 1 you'll feel a lot more comfortable on campus! If you have any questions, or you get lost or you just wanna chat feel free to stop by the RED Zone, myself and the other RSA's would LOVE you see you!

GOOD LUCK!

Nicole