Jessica
Kennedy
Ms. Knew-It-All
College years prove to be full of humbling, learning experiences
I’m a Lincoln girl. So when I
came to the university in the fall of
1993,1 thought I knew it all; the city,
the campus, the universe...
In fact, if I recall correctly, all the
freshman seemed to know it all.
Coming off graduation highs, the
world was ours for the taking. We hit
campus with cars loaded with atti
tude, nervous excitement, new towels
and enough electrical equipment to
power the Vegas strip.
We had arrived.
I’m sure things haven’t changed
too much in the past four years.
Moving to the halls was a great
chance to leave my family behind (all
two miles), but the event was not
without trepidation. See, as a fund
ing contingency, I had to live on the
Honors Program floor.
Visions of Urkel and Pointdexter
filled my head. After suffering
severe high school academic and
extracurricular burnout, I was ready
for some quality social time. I didn’t
think a bunch of nerdy math and sci
ence people would be much fun. I
had my heart set on a “party” dorm.
But to my pleasant surprise, I
found two floors of interesting, excit
ing and normal people. Men and
women who shared similar fears,
' expectations and interests that I did.
I
My roommate and I, though both
(essentially) only children, ended up
having a marvelous time living
together. We lived together again last
year and still remain close friends.
As an ex-student assistant in the
residence halls, I can’t guarantee
everyone will have a great roommate
experience, but I can assure you that
with a little effort and a little help
from your SA, you can have a safe,
happy and even fun experience in the
halls.
I can also assure you the food is
not as bad as people say. The staff
works very, very hard to provide a
wide variety of foods that should
appeal to everyone.
Some other advice for dorm sur
vival: don’t buy all your supplies now.
Wait until you get settled and then see
what you need. Things like towels,
health and beauty items, a shower
caddy and shower flip-flops are good
ideas, though.
Gals, from personal experience
-1
Matt Haney/DN
I’d also advise bringing comfy and
modest sleep apparel. There’s noth
ing like a three a.m. fire alarm where
you find yourself standing in front of
hundreds of people in a skimpy
camisole and short tap pants.
For the guys: remember your floor
is more than an expansive and elabo
rate locker room. Visitors do not want
to see you in tight-whities or be sub
jected to disgusting amount of male
B.O.
Academically, it may be tempting
fir
to let homework slide, sleep in or just
skip class. But let me tell you, you’re
going to be fighting that GPA for the
rest of your time at NU. In my case,
after an abysmal ride through Chem
109, I spent four years trying to
rebuild my GPA.
Just remember: for as much as
professors tout knowledge and infor
mation as the superior goals of a
class, know that they’re full of hooey.
Grades are of the utmost importance.
Never once have I had a scholarship
or an awards committee ask me what
I learned in a particular class. Those
types of committees are much more
interested in GPAs and extracurricu
lar activities.
Although you may not be able to
do as many activities in college as
you did in high school, either because
of more time studying or working or
socializing, find time to get involved.
There are hundreds of groups on ,
campus with hundreds of different
areas of interest. If you don’t get a
listing of all those groups during ,
NSE, ask your NSE leader for one or
stop by the Student Involvement.
Someone there can help you find an
organization to fit your needs.
I want to shatter a terrible
Please see KENNEDY on 18
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