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Here you are. It is the big day. You have arrived on campus for freshman orientation. If you are attending a school at which you are living away from home, you probably arrived yesterday or before in order to set up your dorm room or apartment. If this is your first day of community college, you have arrived with excitement, ready to begin this next phase of your life. Here is what both of you can expect to happen on this first day of college.

The To​ur

Most colleges assume that you have not toured the campus before, although many of you already have. Upper classmen have been assigned to provide tours for those who have not. This is an optional activity for you, but it is a good idea to go, if only to meet other freshmen with whom you will be in classes. The other benefit of the “tour” is that you will likely pick up good bits of information as the veteran talks and as questions are asked and answered.

Registration/Classes

Most registration for courses occurs online these days, and you should already have your schedule of classes. If you want to make changes to that schedule, there will usually be a procedure established, and it will involve making an appointment with an advisor. Do this as quickly as possible, because you do not want to get into your first day of college classes with courses you intend to drop and not being able to attend any course you have added.

The Dreaded Bookstore

Another stop you will need to make before lasses actually begin is to the bookstore. It is a lively busy place at the beginning of each semester – student clamoring to find their course texts and other needed supplies. One of the most important tips for the first day of college is to not rush to buy brand new copies of your text books if you can avoid it. Often, there will be an online portal for students, and you will find offers for used books, which are considerably cheaper. You might also look at several sites online that act as clearinghouses for the sale and purchase of text books. If you have done this before you arrive, all the better. The general rule is this: never buy new what you can find used – a text book can easily be $100+.

Take your financial aid award letter with you to the bookstore. If you plan to use that money for your texts, you can get deferred payment, and the money for your texts will automatically be taken from your aid amount before you receive it.

Eat on Campus that Firs​t Day

You will want to get into college life right away. One of the ways to do this is to eat there, whether there is one common student union for meals or several places dotted around a large campus. While you may feel uncomfortable walking up to a table full of strangers and sitting down, remember that they are as new to this experience as you. Introduce yourself, have plenty of questions to ask your new classmates about themselves, and you will be just fine. Part of being in college is learning to develop acquaintances and new friendships, and you will need to be an active participant in that process.

Your first day in college is over. As you reflect on the journey you are about to take, adopt an attitude of openness and optimism. This will be a grand adventure of work, study, play, huge highs and very low lows. Through it all, however, you will grow beyond measure.