The Daily Lobo took to the streets and social media to offer advice to freshmen at the University of New Mexico. According to the community, here’s what freshmen need to know to hit the ground running.
“Trust your own pace and trust yourself,” said Kaycee Stine, a sophomore studying theater.
While it can be cool to be a member of clubs, starting the college experience is something completely unique and it’s important to maintain your calm and stress levels, she said.
Sophie Anderson-Haynie, a third-year student majoring in English philosophy, stressed the importance of exploring new things in college. She said it is unrealistic to expect first-year students to know exactly what they want to do.
“If I’m going to invest four years of time, money and energy, I want to enjoy it and get a lot out of it,” Anderson-Haynie said.
College is a great time for students to find out what interests them and take courses that interest them, she said.
Volunteering and community involvement can lead to jobs and careers students may never have otherwise heard of, says Anderson-Haynie, who has volunteered with As You Are New Mexico.
“I didn’t even know that victim advocacy was a potential career for me until I started this work in Albuquerque,” Anderson-Haynie said.
Antonio Tafoya, a longtime New Mexico resident, encouraged the students to get out and explore their communities.
“Take your markets to local markets and find out when annual events are happening for a more authentic experience,” Tafoya wrote.
Tafoya also offered advice for out-of-state students who may not know anyone in the area.
“In New Mexico, it is easy to make new friends of different backgrounds and ages if you are willing to learn about the community and get involved,” he wrote.
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Alice Edwards, a fourth-year biology major, said it’s important to monitor and respond to emails.
“Solve your problems – and the best way to do that is to communicate with the people who can help you,” Edwards said.
According to Edwards, counseling centers, trusted teachers, friends and mentors can help.
“Ask people for help, reach out; there are people who know more than you, and that’s basically everyone on this campus who isn’t a freshman,” Edwards said. “Ask them, they’ll have answers.”
Stine said she wished she had been told how important it is to plan your day well, so that you can “have more time for everything you want to do during the day,” she said.
“Create a detailed itinerary, even if it may seem silly, but it will help you picture and visualize all the things you have time for,” Stine said.
Stine, who came to UNM from out of town, also said that caring about the community she came into while also being cared for by it helped her during her freshman year.
“Trusting my gut and knowing who was looking out for me and who wasn’t made a big difference in adjusting to a place that was so new to me,” Stine said.
Marcela Johnson is a local reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at [email protected] or @DailyLobo.
Marcela Johnson is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo and editor-in-chief of Limina: UNM Nonfiction Review.
