Lesson One: Always check RateMyProfessors when signing up for classes!
I have done research on professors that I currently have for classes, professors that people have raved about, and professors that people have complained about and wished that they would’ve never taken their classes to begin with. The website ratemyprofessors.com is very accurate when it comes to describing what it will be like to take a professor’s class. In fact, everything that I have experienced so far in my classes was exactly stated by other students on the website.
Lesson Two: If you live in Arroyo Vista or any of the ACC apartments (VDCN, VDC, CDS, PDS, PV), stick with FlexDine Dollars.
Dining hall swipes are expensive. That’s an extra $800 that I didn’t have to spend on the 85 block plan that I bought. In fact, I hardly have time to go to the dining hall since I don’t live in Mesa Court nor Middle Earth this year (I live in the Academic Excellence Black Scholars House, a first-year themed house in Arroyo Vista).
Lesson Three: Watch what you eat!
For those who have the dreaded 8 a.m. or even 9 a.m. classes like me, make sure to eat a good breakfast before you come to class. If you have a hard time doing this, make sure to sign up for later classes next quarter. Trust me, even if I sit at the front of the lecture hall during Arasasingham’s 9 a.m. lectures, if I don’t eat a good breakfast, I have a hard time staying focused. I feel very tired and bored, just like I did in high school in the mornings. Also, give yourself time for your meals to digest before you study or go to class, or try to avoid eating too fast. Otherwise, you will get very tired during your next class, like me during my Thrive@UCI classes.
Lesson Four: Stop sleeping on LARC tutorials and peer tutor worksheets!
I cannot thank LARC tutorial leader Jerry Zhang enough for making the concepts covered in Arasasingham’s lectures easier to understand. I also cannot thank Thais Bouchereau and Adisa Ajamu enough for sponsoring these tutorials. Although LARC tutorials are $110 per session, if you don’t want to pay, or don’t have a sponsor, you can ask your professors or TA’s if peer tutoring is offered for your general education classes. The peer tutors usually offer free worksheets for you to print out and use so that you can study for midterms and finals easier– I printed out all of them for Bio 93! Here are some peer tutors for general chemistry and biology.
Lesson Five: Know where and how to study
The upper floors of Langson Library and the Courtyard Study Lounge are some of my go-to spots for studying because I focus better in quiet environments. Gateway Study Center has touchscreen monitors, but the people there can get pretty chatty, so I would bring headphones and prepare to blast some chillhop or classical or whatever music gets your focus going.