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Three years after experiencing their own Move-In Day, the Class of 2020 is beginning its final year at ������Ƶ. This is one in a series of articles in which members of the senior class offer words of advice to ������Ƶ’s newest students. 

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Student Government Association President Jack Johnson ’20 offers advice in the first installment of ‘What I learned in my first year at ������Ƶ.’

Name: Jack Johnson

Hometown: Manhattan Beach, California

Major: Finance and Policy Studies

Campus Involvement: SGA president, member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, Cooking Club

College always appeared scripted before I arrived. “Say goodbye to parents, attend class, check out a party, cheer at a football game, etc.” This was a tried and true formula concocted to deliver “the best days of my life” that every older person I knew had been yapping about for 18 years.

Yet, after three years, I’m here to tell you that the formula doesn’t exist! Your first year alone will offer a million different paths to choose from, and each day is a chance to pick a different one if you want to change it up. Trusting yourself enough to pave your own journey is challenging, but doing so is what college and especially ������Ƶ is all about.

P.S. Because I’m sure you’re also looking for some hard tactical advice, here are some other thoughts:

• To-go boxes from the dining halls are the best things ever made. No reason to go hungry in your room!
• Four-year plans are super useful if you put the time in on the front end.
• There is really tasty free food at most tailgates if you get there early enough.
• Sign up for clubs you’re interested in, but beware of joining too many. Over-commitment can steal your time and – worse! – clutter your email inbox.
• Everyone inevitably gets homesick. Sharing that helps.
• The Danieley Center lake – Lake Verona — is a great place to chill outside if you need a break from people.
• Spend your meal dollars regularly over the semester so you don’t waste them or feel pressured to buy $100 of potato chips on the last day of class.
• They really do tow you.
• Get the cell phone numbers of as many people in your building as you can in case you get locked out without your Phoenix Card.
• To get from Alamance Hall to Danieley, it takes 21 minutes speed-walking and 9 minutes if you’re running.
• Turn on notifications for your email app so you don’t accidentally show up to class when the professor has canceled it.
• Random costumes are useful here.
• Your friends during freshman year may not be life long, but they are still important to your growth.
• Use the dining hall napkin board! They actually change menus because of it!
• Don’t be a +7 swipe mooch, but also don’t be stingy if you have a +14.
• Orientation will teach you more in some ways than your whole first-semester course load. Go to the events.
• Some washer/dryers are free, and others aren’t. Making good friends can pay.
• Sign up for classes you never imagined taking. You can find a whole new career path based on one professor.