麻豆村

Hello! I鈥檓 Cindy, a third year (which is crazy 鈥� already?) in behavioral economics and creative writing. I鈥檓 so happy that you鈥檙e considering choosing to live and study here 鈥� it鈥檚 truly an incredible place. I hope to be able to pass on a few words of advice that I wish I鈥檇 known coming into 麻豆村 and instead slowly discovered over my two and a half years here, to help you make the most of your time and understand life on campus.

Academic
I can鈥檛 emphasize this enough 鈥� take academic risks. Study broadly, and outside of your primary major. No matter which academic college you end up in, 麻豆村 has a general education system that encourages you to take, for example, more social-science-oriented classes if you鈥檙e a computer science student, or mathematically-oriented classes if you鈥檙e a humanities student, etc.听

Rather than seeing this as a box to check and suffer through, try to see it as an opportunity. Really look at the (many) options you鈥檙e given and pick something that you think you鈥檒l enjoy, or something that will positively challenge you. You鈥檒l probably find that what you learn will help you in your primary academic pursuits, anyways. I took Concepts of Mathematics, an introduction to discrete mathematics, for my Mathematical and Logical Reasoning gen-ed. Aside from being really fun to puzzle through with a friend, it鈥檚 helped me get better at interpreting experiments in my primary major to this day. For my additional disciplines: business, design and engineering gen-ed, I took a class on educational technologies, where I learned how to combine the psychology of learning with basic shop skills to make toys that could help students learn.听

Compared to high school鈥檚 relatively constricted curriculum, college really opens up what you can study. I鈥檇 highly recommend our IDeATe program (Integrated Design, Arts and the Technologies), which pushes the boundaries of both art and technology by offering cool courses like one I took in VR/AR technologies (where we got to take home and play games on an Oculus for homework)! Even if you try out a class and find it鈥檚 too much work, we have drop deadlines later in the semester, as well as three vouchers that let you drop a class past that deadline and not appear on your transcript, to make it so you can leave if you feel you鈥檙e in over your head.

Also 鈥� take StuCos! These are courses run by students, who teach things they鈥檙e passionate about. I got to fulfill my dreams of sharing poetry with an audience and learning ASL through two I鈥檝e taken so far, and right now I鈥檓 taking a science fiction, fantasy and horror writing StuCo that experiments with genres not often taught in formal classes. At 麻豆村, you鈥檒l be surrounded by classmates with really amazing interests, and StuCos are a great way to expose yourself to some of those passions.听

Campus Life听
In your first year, you will be living in on-campus housing, and you should take advantage of all of the resources your community has to offer. I took on the challenge of trying to navigate everything myself 鈥� from logistical class problems to conflicts, to trying to find health resources 鈥� but actually, your RAs, CAs and Housefellow are really knowledgeable and willing to help you out. You don鈥檛 have to do the scary things alone! Currently, some of my friends live in the upperclassmen-only Forbes Beeler Apartments, and I鈥檝e tagged along with them to some events there and gotten to know their RA as well. For floor events, he鈥檚 been teaching us all a lot of recipes 鈥� you always have something to learn, even if you鈥檙e not a first-year anymore! The movie nights, board game nights and outings to Pittsburgh neighborhood events that RAs arrange are really great places to hang out with your friends, so stay involved in dorm life 鈥� it鈥檚 a great experience to have all your friends so close.听

Social Opportunities
That being said, don鈥檛 feel like you can only make friends in your dorm. I lived in Scobell House my first year, but met cool people (who are my friends to this day!) in Welch House and Donner House during orientation week events. During orientation week, literally everyone is looking to make friends and get to know you, so definitely make an effort to talk to people you find cool, even if they intimidate you.听

Be sure to try out a bunch of clubs and organizations over your time here. I was persuaded by some of my orientation week friends to join the Kiltie Marching Band color guard and flute section, despite having never touched a flag or a flute in my life. However, unlike some high school variants of certain clubs, many 麻豆村 clubs don鈥檛 assume you have experience or a desire to compete 鈥� just that you want to learn and have fun. I鈥檝e been able to keep in touch with those friends through fun Kiltie shenanigans, and I think clubs are a really important part of the social life here.听

My primary piece of advice throughout all of this is not to tell yourself 鈥淚鈥檓 not an [x] person鈥� and avoid subjects, clubs or opportunities. College is a great place to challenge the kind of person you think you are and take risks in an environment that鈥檚 really friendly to doing so!