What to bring to class on the first day

Don’t overdo it. I often see students laboring around campus with little suitcases on wheels. I assume they are carrying their computer, their notebooks, and every textbook they were asked to buy this semester. Maybe a few library books and their lunch. Here’s what you need to bring to class that first day:

A copy of your class schedule, just to remind you where to go. (Sometimes campus computers make mistakes and send you to classes that don’t exist or put you in places where you don’t belong. A printout of your schedule will solve a lot of problems if you have to ask questions.)

A campus map would not be a bad idea either.

Pen or pencil. You do need to bring your own. Only annoying fools think everyone else should supply them with writing tools.
Spiral notebook. On that first day, someone is certain to say something you will need to remember. (It wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a spiral notebook for each course you will take.)
Accordion file folder. The first day usually has a lot of handouts, and you want to keep them all—together with each other, but separate from the handouts for other classes.
Everything else is optional. You will probably not need your textbooks in class on the first day. In fact, college teachers do not often require you to use the textbook in class. It’s for homework reading, and we assume you have done the reading before you get here.

About bringing your computer that first day …

You probably don’t need it. Most teachers spend the first day on “rules and regulations” stuff (syllabus, schedule of readings and assignments, etc.) and on some sort of “getting to know you” material. so there’s no point in desperately digging into the internet. And besides …

You will be juggling a lot of other confusing stuff that day anyhow, and
logging into the campus system takes a while the first time, and
the campus network is often overloaded the first day or two so you might have to wait a LONG time, and
babysitting a computer and worrying about it is far less important than finding out what you have to do to pass this course.

Comments

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