Wouldn't it have been nice to come to Fanshawe and know exactly what to expect? I know that I would have loved that. I've learned five things (well, a lot of things but one article will not suffice) about college life that I was going to take the grave, but I figured many of you would love, hate or laugh at some of these (embarrassing) truths.

1. Do not rely on the bus system during September. Just don't. Like it or not, during that first month, 16,000 other people are trying to get to their classes too. Traffic on Oxford is ridiculous, parking is silly and even the hallways are traffic-jammed. Ultimately, take the earlier bus — the bus will drive by you if you try and get on anywhere past Oxford and Adelaide, you will be late for class, and you won't be happy.

2. Opting out. Avoid yourself and our office staff some heartbreak and do it within the time allotted. You have from the third week of August (generally) until the middle of September to opt-out of the health care plan. It's posted all over the school and all you have to do it log onto fsu.ca and there is a HUGE stop sign with “opt-out” on it. You need your parents' health care provider information, so have that ready. I have forgotten to do this every year, so I feel your pain.

3. Go to class. Honestly, I still need to work on this too because sometimes my bed feels too good to leave at 6:30 a.m. However, there are a lot of things you miss if you don't go to class, especially if you're in a program like mine with countless group projects — you can't let them down, it reflects poorly on you. Also, your teachers are likely to notice, and when it comes to giving you that bump in your grade (especially if you need it to pass), if you don't show up, they won't know who you are and you won't deserve it.

4. Speak up. I mean this in the most productive and least offensive way possible — don't just sit in class and do nothing. Seriously. You won't be engaged, and you won't get the most out of the money you've invested into post-secondary education. I also mean speak up when it comes to issues about the college. We are always looking for feedback; we held an open forum in September and we will continue to hold them! We have also started a residence/Fanshawe Student Union open forum and will be advertising these soon. So please come out and voice your concerns or feedback — we want to hear it! Also before speaking up, do some research because you don't want to come off as rude: it could bite you in the butt.

5. Be nice to people. Holding doors for people, chatting to random people and the like could benefit you in the long run. Some people aren't the most extroverted, but seriously even smiling (not creepily) to people once in a while won't hurt you. We're launching a “Kindness Starts With FS(You)” campaign and we will be going around campus to catch these acts in action! Share these random (and awesome) acts of kindness online at fsu.ca/kindness. As cliché as this sounds, you never know who's day you're making better by just being nice.

Signing off to do more homework,
Vero

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
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