Whether you’re from the great state of Ohio or from one of the other 40+ states represented at UC, you have officially completed your first week as a Bearcat! After the past five days of classes, we have all already experienced things unique to UC as well as common college occurrences. Here are the 10 worst and 10 best things about our first week at the University of Cincinnati:
Most likely if you’re in Dr. Nodzak’s Anatomy class, you know exactly what I’m talking about after reading two chapters and completing an endless amount of learning outcome worksheets before the first day of classes. (And we all thought those dreaded pre-class assignments were left behind in high school.)
Although most of the buildings on campus all look pretty different, it’s still confusing trying to find your classroom with the stress of knowing that you only have 10 minutes to get from French Hall to Braunstein Hall with no idea of which direction to even start walking. If only you had listened to your subconscious and scouted out all of your classrooms before it was too late.
Although this is normal in universities throughout the U.S., it is still very common for most first year courses at UC. The first problem with lecture halls is the fact that the course is very impersonal, and the other main problem with lecture halls is the obviously large quantity of people. If you sit towards the front of the class, it can take almost 10 minutes just to get out of the hall. However, if you sit in the back to get a quick escape, you’re more likely to be another face just lost in the crowd.
Being in school obviously means homework but most classes assigned homework on the first day, even after they already had you complete those endless summer assignments. Apparently “syllabus week” means nothing in college because almost immediately after we reviewed the syllabus, we started our first lesson.
On the UC campus, it seems like from any given point around school you can see at least one set of stairs. No matter where you’re from, walking up and down sets of stairs all day is still quite a hassle and causes you to seriously contemplate if going to class is actually work having to walk up the stairs.
Not only does Market Pointe close after lunch on Fridays, Center Court’s ice cream machine was broken for basically the entire first week of school. I don’t know what it is about the machine at Center Court but it is definitely addicting and the line at dinner was a true testament to that.
If you thought you would be able to cut through campus by Stadium View to get to the Quad, you were probably just as disappointed as I was to find out that the bridge at the end zone of Nippert Stadium was blocked off due to the new video board being put up. In all honestly, it looks great now, but it was pretty inconvenient having to walk down on to the field just to walk all the way back up yet another set of grueling stairs.
If you live in any of the freshman dorms, you most likely had a fire drill at some point within the first week of school. If you were lucky enough to avoid the close to midnight wake-up call, you better hope you don’t have to experience it. We all know that fire drills are just part of being in school and maintaining safety protocols, but couldn’t it have waited until we at least got through our first week of school?
This past week has had basically every type of weather possible besides snow (but at the rate we’re going it might happen soon!) At about 59 degrees every morning with highs in the mid-70’s, it was quite confusing trying to figure out what to wear to stay warm on the way to morning classes while keeping yourself cool for your daily hike to your afternoon classes. This can be especially complicated when you’re trying to plan your outfit for your at 8 am and you have no clue what the temperature will be when you get out of your first class.
You might be wondering what I mean by dorm issues, if you haven’t experienced any of these you’re lucky! Within the first week of school, multiple students made complaints of roaches in Dabney Hall. In Calhoun, we have elevators that clearly have a mind of their own and choose not to go to no matter how many times you press the button. By the end of the first week, the Bearcat Card scanner wasn’t working for the entrance to Siddall by Market Pointe, so students were forced to walk around the building to the other entrance just to get back in.
Now, after hearing all of the “worsts” for your first week at UC, it’s time for the “bests!” There may have been a few irritating things about our first week but it’s nothing we can’t handle so here’s 10 of the best things we experienced in our first week at UC that definitely made up for the minor inconveniences.
Whether you attended every event possible or just a few of the larger scale activities, Welcome Weekend had something for everyone to enjoy. From free ice cream trucks to parties in TUC, Welcome Weekend was a non-stop, action packed weekend. If you aren’t big on the party scene, there was still plenty of stuff for you to do like Trivia Nights, Pickup Sports on Sheakley and even Yoga on the Lawn at Sigma Sigma Commons. No matter what you spent your last few days of freedom doing, the best event of the weekend was finally becoming a true Bearcat at Convocation on Saturday morning.
Within my first two days of classes I met people from all sorts of places ranging from Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and even Tennessee, Los Angeles, and Vietnam! Although UC doesn’t seem like a very well sought-after school to most Ohio natives, plenty of people have moved to Ohio just to go to school in Cincinnati and it shows with the wide variety of students on campus.
Although you gain a new sense of responsibility and freedom at any college, being able to live on your own in such a diverse city has a nice ring to it. For most of us, it is our first time living without our moms, dads, or other guardians and while it seems scary, the overwhelming sense of freedom you now have is incomparable. Yes, some of our new-found responsibilities seem taxing at times but finally getting to live under our own rules is one of the most exciting parts of finally being here at UC.
You may have found classes exciting and fun back in high school but most of us dreading having to go to the classes that we had little to no interest in. Now that we’re in college, we have the opportunity to finally take classes we are actually interested in going to while having the privilege to be instructed by some of the most enthusiastic and dedicated professors around.
Since the grand opening of the Target on Calhoun Street, not a day has gone by that there wasn’t a plethora of UC students rushing in to get last minute school supplies or groceries. The new addition to campus has been quite helpful to plenty of students in the few weeks we have been here.
On Wednesday, FC Cincinnati played Ottawa at Nippert Stadium and UC students only had to pay five dollars to get a ticket to the game. Whether you were one of the dedicated fans cheering from the student section or watching from your TV in the comfort of your bed, a well-deserved win from our hometown team was a great way to kick off the year. (Especially while we anxiously await the start of this year’s football season with our new head coach.)
Everyone knows that food is one of the most important aspects of anyone’s life but especially college life. The amount of on-campus dining options – not to mention off-campus options as well – keeps students satisfied daily. I have personally never been to Cane’s but the out-the-door line on Friday night had me craving some chicken tenders and crinkle-cut fries. The options are endless and there’s at least one option for everyone to satisfy their hunger on and off campus thanks to the close proximity to Calhoun Street and especially the new Kroger!
With the new video board finally in place and the end zones officially set up, it is time for the start of football season. Thanks to Nippert Stadium being one of the oldest remaining in-ground stadiums, students have the opportunity to watch the field getting prepped and ready for game day- and there’s nothing more exciting than getting the chance to finally sit in the student section at your first football game as a college student.
The architecture and layout of the buildings has gotten UC some attention from Cincinnati-natives and even well-known media companies likes Forbes, which named UC as one of America’s most beautiful college campuses! From the Zimmer Rooftop Garden to DAAP’s edgy pink and green design, it’s no secret that the U of Cincinnati has a very unique style. As more and more architects are brought to our campus, UC becomes increasingly more beautiful and we are lucky to call it home!
In any college experience, we are finally able to start over. You might be joined here at UC with your entire high school senior class or like me, the only person from your entire school district to have traveled this far for school. Wherever you might have come from, you have the opportunity to start over and make a new name for yourself. With the amount of opportunities UC has to offer, you have the ability to make yourself great. From CO-OP to internships, Cincinnati is the official start to your life beyond grade school and it is up to you to make the most of it. Who you were in high school doesn’t define who you are in college so allow UC to show you what it has to offer and do whatever it is that makes you happy.
I can’t wait to enjoy the next four years here with all of you and I wish you all the best of luck. Go Bearcats!
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