Welcome to Belmont! I’m sure you’ve heard it a million times since arriving at Belmont — we all attended orientation and remember how it goes — but now that the welcomes are done, you’re probably looking for some easy ways to get through the next four years.
As seniors, we’ve lived through it all — the questionable caf food, the crazy roommates and the never-ending construction. So, we thought we could make your lives a little less hectic by giving you some of the advice we wish we heard when we were freshman.
1. Don’t worry about changing your major, you have time to figure out what you want to do. Most of us don’t know what we want to do either, and we’re about to graduate. 2. Don’t get into a relationship two days into your freshman year. Let’s be honest. You’re not in love. You just met. 3. Enjoy the caf while you have it. 4. Pay attention to where you’re allowed to park. I know it seems like 5 minutes in a visitor spot is OK, but Campus Security will find you, and they will give you a ticket. 5. Save your declining points. Save your declining points. Save your declining points. 6. Pizza Perfect is within walking distance of campus and does 2-for-1 slices on Mondays. 7. Be prepared to listen to a lot of crappy EP’s. I’m warning you. They don’t get any better. You just become more tolerant. 8. Get involved with any group you find interesting. It’s great to be a part of an organization. 9. The coffee at Starbucks is meh, the coffee at Chick-fil-A is bleh, but the coffee at Corner Court is the tea, sis. 10. I’m not telling you to take extra fruit from the caf, but there are bins of fruit by the 360 station. Take advantage of all of life’s blessings — walk out with a banana, people! 11. Get a bike. It’ll either be your lifesaver or the world’s largest paperweight. 12. Savor your time living on campus. Having all your friends in one place is great and won’t last forever. 13. DIY Waffle Cone: make a waffle at the waffle station, fold it up and put ice cream in it. 14. DIY Ice Cream Sandwich: this one’s pretty obvious. Just get two cookies and put ice cream in the middle. Didn’t think I’d have to spell that out for you. 15. Take advantage of Midnight Movies at the Belcourt — they’re cheap and a ton of fun. 16. Go to the entree line in the caf, even if you can’t tell what the meat is. I promise it’s delicious. Sometimes. 17. No matter what your favorite song is, “Africa” by Toto will always be there for you. 18. Expand your interests. College is a great time to try new things. 19. Being cool will only get you so far. Loving what you do will get you so much farther. 20. You’re gonna procrastinate. It’s just gonna happen. Those all-nighters will get easier. 21. Don’t cheat. It won’t solve your problems, and you will get caught. 22. You might get written up. It’s not the end of the world. 23. Portland Brew is cheaper than Bongo and offers free refills. 24. Don’t worry about convo. Leave it all for senior year. 25. Don’t be afraid of alone time. Whether it’s lunch in the caf or a solo trip to the movies, it’s good to have time to recharge. 26. Don’t even think about trying Mein Bowl. 27. Lower Broadway is not actually cool. 28. Use the bridge between Massey and Inman. 29. Chagos accepts Bruin Bucks. 30. A lot of things will probably change in your time here at Belmont. You probably won’t be told why. It’s okay. It happened to all of us. Go with the flow.
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This article written by the Vision staff seniors: Melissa Kriz, Jason Saitta, Carina Eudy, Zach Gilchriest and Sara Scannell.