Golden Eagle Experience

What to do during Your First 2 Weeks

As your college experience is just beginning, we want you to make the most out of your time here. There are a lot of things to conquer during your first few weeks on campus. Here are a few things that will help you get the most out of your first two weeks!

Explore campus! Once you familiarize yourself with a few buildings on campus, take some time to explore other parts of campus. Whether that’s walking through the Campus Fitness center or just sitting out on Centennial Plaza, you will find that campus offers so many different things for students to do.

Don’t forget about Cookeville! Knowing campus is extremely important since you will spend most of your time here, but exploring Cookeville provides so many additional opportunities that campus may not have. Grab a few of your new friends to try different restaurants, shop at the boutiques, or go for a hike.

Go to every campus event you can. Campus organizations and departments take advantage of the first few weeks of classes to hold various events and activities. Check your email daily for our Tech Times which advertises these events. They could be offering free food or free merchandise!

Make a rough draft. Take a look at each day’s schedule, and create a rough draft of what each day will look like. Just keep in mind that every day will be slightly different, so be prepared to change up your routine and adapt daily.

Go to class and keep the syllabus! Whether the class is super exciting or not, you should make sure that you are always in class and on time because professors do notice when students don’t attend. It’s also important to keep each syllabus and actually read the information provided. This is where professors will explain the required materials, attendance policy, grading scale, and important dates. Go ahead and pencil those dates provided into your calendar to keep track of them.

Meet each professor. It’s always a good idea to take the time and introduce yourself to your instructors. They are the experts when it comes to their classes, so make that initial impression and be open to communicating with them. Instead of just introducing yourself at the end of class, try visiting them during office hours.

Learn how YOU learn. College is a completely different ballgame when it comes to studying and learning material. Take the first few weeks to determine how you learn course material the best and retain that information. Don’t be afraid to try different methods!

Figure out the little things. There are so many big and important things that you have to figure out during the first 2 weeks. Don’t forget the smaller things that do make a difference to your experience. Take some time to figure out how to print in the library or how to work the different equipment in the Fitness Center. Also, figure out how to best keep up with your Eagle Card! That card is your key to Tennessee Tech!

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