Inside the CSC with Jolene - That First Week
Aug 7, 2024 | Jolene Carter, CSC President
I’ve been thinking about my first week of college these days and how much easier it would have been if I’d known a few things.
The first is that I’d need to ask for help. It seems silly, but it’s the truth; there’s a ton of services on campus that most don’t know about until it’s too late for them to be helpful.
My recommendation to almost everyone I meet is: if you need accommodations in the classroom? Meet with Student Success as soon as possible.
They can help you get in-class accommodations that help your classroom experience to be better for your own learning style; ranging from access to the testing room for a quiet test environment to the ability to record lectures.
If you get your accommodations in place early, it can help those first few weeks be a lot less difficult.
The second thing I wish I knew was regarding textbooks. I’m going to repeat what people told me and I didn’t take it seriously; wait to purchase any until your first day.
Your professor might tell you that there’s no need for the whole textbook as you use only one chapter or that they reserved a copy in the library you can sign out to use.
Even if you have to buy it there are ways to save money; using Facebook Marketplace to buy it from a fellow student who's done with the course, rented online for less money or bought from a used bookstore.
One last thing I’d like to say is that your friendships will shift. Some people might start out really close with you and by the end of the first semester you may speak to other people; some may have chosen different programs/paths than you.
I want to promise you this is normal. We’re all in a transitional time in our lives; regardless of age, we’re all trying to learn and improve. It’s why we came here to learn from those who know more than us in the fields we’re hoping to be in.
Bottom line; expect things to be an adventure and if the road gets bumpy? Ask for assistance; we’re all Panthers and great things happen here thanks to us working together as a community.
Yours truly,
Jolene.
#Access and Inclusion #Canadore Students' Council #Student Experience #Student Life