10 things I wish I knew before coming to Centre

1. There is a lot of give-and-take when rooming with someone. Things aren't always going to be fair with your roomie, so sometimes you're going to get annoyed that something isn't going your way and you just have to let it go. Most of the time it's not worth getting into a fight. I was extremely lucky to have such an awesome roomie. At first, we both thought we weren't going to get along but we fit together perfectly. She's been such a great friend who's helped me through some rough spots and was always a listening ear at 2 a.m. I (heart) my roomie!

2. Try to take a science credit early. My schedule has restricted me from being able to take a science class all freshman year and this upcoming fall. I was hoping to have my science credits completed by sophomore year, but that isn't happening. Now I just have to wait to take a science class late, which stinks.

3. Have a printer in your room. I didn't have a printer until late first term. Before then, you'd find me scrambling to get a paper printed out in the library minutes before it was due. Many times, the printer wouldn't work. Now, I never deal with crunch time and I'm not freaking out to complete a paper.

4. If possible, schedule your classes so that there is one day off during the week. This term, I don't have class on Tuesday...it's quite nice. I sleep till 1 p.m., wake up, do some homework and then go to tennis practice. Not a bad lifestyle. However, some people don't like this. It just depends on the person.

5. The professor of your two required humanities classes can make or break your experience learning the material. Ask upperclassmen who they consider to be good humanities professors because these classes are usually in the morning and you'll need an enthusiastic professor to keep you awake.

6. A 10-meal a week meal plan was perfect for me. I never eat at Cowan on weekends and I oftentimes skip a meal and go to The Grille. The Grille is one of the restaurants on campus run by the dining services. You can use your meal plan there at certain times, but you'll often pay the difference in flex dollars because Grille food is oftentimes more expensive. I've never used all 10 meals in one week, plus I get a lot more flex dollars, which are quite nice for grabbing a bagel in the morning from Jazzman's Café which is also on campus.

7. If you played a sport in high school, go ahead and contact the coach for that sport at Centre and give it a try. One of my main friend groups is the girls' tennis team and I'm really glad to have met them through tennis. Also, I only started playing tennis the day before tryouts in high school my senior year...now I'm playing for Centre. Everyday I'm learning more and getting better. What I'm trying to say is: give it a shot. There's no bad that could come from it.

8. Bring a mini-fan. The weather has been crazy lately and some nights the room temperature hits an extreme hot or cold. The mini-fan is perfect for those hot nights when Centre hasn't turned on the AC.

9. Bring rain boots. I have yet to buy a pair, so on rainy days my pant legs get soaked and it definitely puts a damper on my day.

10. Take a class with Professor Wyatt. I'm REALLY into history and Dr. Wyatt is a great educator. He makes things simple and very interesting. I'd recommend his class on the Vietnam War (which is his specialty). It was one of the best classes I've taken at Centre so far. Plus, on the day of finals he brought us pizza. I'm not guaranteeing he'll do that for your class with him, but it could be a possibility. And if you grab an 8 a.m. class with him, he just might surprise you with doughnuts.