When I was a student, I liked school, for the most part. I liked being in class, and I loved the moment when I finally understood a concept. When the first day of school came, there were many things that I thought about.

First, I thought about my classes. As a full-time college student, I had to take at least 12 hours as an undergraduate, which was equal to four classes. Four classes was not a difficult course load. It was enough for me to be full-time, but not so much as to be overwhelming. I wanted to make sure not to overload myself. That way, I would have time for tutoring appointments, if I needed them, and I would also have time for other things that were important to me.

A second thing I thought about on the first day of school was my friends. I was eager to see if my friends were in any of my classes. When I walked into a class, I always took a seat at the front of the classroom. That way, I could see the board. Then I pulled out the supplies that I would need for class, such as my textbook, notebook, and a pen. Finally, when I was set up for class, I sat at my desk and watched to see who walked into the room. Many of the students I did not know, of course. I knew that we would probably get to know each other as the semester went on. Every once in a while, however, I was lucky enough to discover that one of my friends had registered for the same section of the class. When I saw someone I knew, I smiled and waved. My friend would then come in, wave, smile, and say “Hi!” Then he would go find a seat. It felt great to know that I was sharing an unfamiliar experience with a friend. It made it fun. I was tickled to see my friends, and I knew that in order to stay in class and continue to see them there, I needed to succeed.

Looking around campus, I noticed that many students liked to form study groups to study for their classes. I am an introvert, however, which meant that I preferred to study alone. For classes such as psychology and sociology, the tests were often made up in a multiple-choice format so that they would be easy for the professor to grade. Because they were multiple choice, I could make flashcards to study for them. I would go through the chapters that we were currently covering in class, looking for important terms, names, and other concepts that could be written as a multiple-choice question. I would predict questions that I expected to see on the next test, and I would put each question that I came up with on a separate index card. Once I had come to the end of my notes and the end of the chapter, I had a stack of cards that I could study to prepare for the test. I studied whenever I could, such as during my meal periods and before my classes, and I usually managed to do well. In addition to thinking about my classes, however, I thought about fun things, as well.

For example, I thought about the upcoming football season. I looked forward to seeing each game. I loved sitting in the stadium on a cool fall night, seeing the stars in the sky, and watching the teams play.

Another fun thing I thought about were school activities. The Student Activities Board often brought in guest speakers to speak to the student body. I was eager to attend their presentations, because I wanted to hear what they had to say. Therefore, I knew that I would have to manage my time. By getting my schoolwork done, I could go to the presentation and enjoy myself, rather than nervously looking at my watch, wondering how long the speaker was going to talk, and worrying about getting back to my dorm room in time to get my assignments done.

Finally, I thought about money. I knew that with the thousands of students who were on campus and the number of people who came to the campus for other functions, I was likely to find money as I walked the campus each day. I often did find money, and I tried my hardest to save what I found. Unfortunately, I usually wound up spending it on necessities, such as a load of laundry or a scantron for a test.

If you will soon experience your first day of school, you may have some of these same thoughts. I wish you a great first day and a successful school experience.