As fall semester begins, returning and new students alike begin scrambling to prepare for the coming school year. Any college graduate will tell of the things they wish they had known or done while attending college.
Here five key things to know and do when heading back to Salt Lake Community College.
1. No matter which campus students will be spending time at, the parking lots will be swarmed with students searching for an empty parking space. Unless the first class of the day is at 7:00 a.m., it will be difficult and time consuming to find any available parking spaces towards the front of the parking lot.
“There’s not even enough parking for motorcycles, let alone cars,” said SLCC student Erik Tovar.
The back of the parking lot may seem miles away, but the time it takes to walk from there to your class destination will most likely be less than the time it takes to stalk a fellow student to slip into their parking space as they leave campus.
Remember that parking spaces painted blue are for faculty and staff only. Students will be ticketed if parked in any area other than the yellow painted student parking.
2. Wait to buy textbooks. It can be exciting to shop for all of the back to school items on your list, but wait until after the first day of class to purchase textbooks. After reading the course syllabus students will know exactly which books you need and if they actually need them.
If the instructor only uses the textbook a few times during the semester, the campus library may have the book on reserve. Using the library textbook can save you some money.
3. Take advantage of the learning and tutoring resources that SLCC offers all students. The Writing Center, Math Lab, and the ESL Lab are only a few of the resources offered.
Tutoring services are also offered for students that need extra help. Math, writing, and science tutoring are only a handful of the different subjects
4. Make friends with the other people in class. This is beneficial to both students exchanging contact information. If a student has to miss a class, it is good to have someone to contact to find out what information might have been missed. Meeting pals in class is also a way to form study groups for exams and finals.
“I usually just work it out with the teacher if I miss a class,” said SLCC student Melody Hackett. “Unless of course it’s a group project.”
5. As tempting as it can be, be sure to not skip the first week of classes. If a student misses one of the first two class sessions, the instructor has the option to drop that student from the course. Not only is it bad to be unexpectedly dropped from a class, but a student could also be missing vital information from instructors.
More information about each topic is available at slcc.edu under the future students and current students resource tabs.
