SANDRA CHALMERS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

As I take my last walks up and down the cliffs of stairs that compose most of this campus, I think back on all the things that as a freshman I wish I knew and the most important lessons that my education has armed me with. So to benefit the student population I will be leaving behind as I graduate this May, I offer some honest truths about college life.

Professors want to hear more than your stomach growling in class:

Professors want students to ask questions in class, I learned in my Communication 200 course, debate and persuasion, the essential step in thinking critically is to ask questions, and if there are no questions being asked in class then critical thinking could quite possibly be absent. Professors aim to fuel your understanding, your thought process on the material and if the content is too difficult to follow, tuning out and thinking about a Mr. Taco breakfast burrito will not help you engage in the material. I know, its hard, but reading the material prior to class helps reinforce your true understanding. Getting questions answered as the class progresses keeps you from getting stuck at midterm review with 25 topics you can’t find on Wikipedia.

If you’re going to buy the textbook, make sure to read it:

We all know the familiar heartbreak of paying $136 for a textbook that was never opened and then got denied buy back. That slap in the face happens all to often, so invest in your investments, make your textbooks your best friends, after all we know they have the right answers in them to guarantee you a perfect grade.

Cell phone in class, means sing your ringtone in class:

I will never forget the time I sang the chorus for the song “Tipsy” by J-Kwon in front of my sociology class after my phone rang. The rules of the land were, “phone rings, then you must sing.” My unfortunate taste in ringtone denied me the chance slip by humming a simple tune, but my impromptu performance branded me to never allow phone interruptions during any class again, or you may never know what embarrassing consequences there maybe.

If you’re on time, you’re already late:

My favorite class, at the early hour of 10 a.m, became a phenomenon for my time keeping abilities. Arriving right at 10 a.m meant a lengthy search for a chair or possibly sitting at the uneven desk in the corner that squawked with every movement of a pencil. My professor seemed to understand this phenomenon and would stop at mid sentence to cheerfully invite me to class with a “Oh hi there, great that you made it.” Her genuine invitation felt like daggers to my embarrassment, a perfect cure to understanding that being on time is already too late.

Photo courtesy of CSUSM.edu