Starting Advice

When you’re heading to college, there’s no shortage of advice from parents, teachers or relatives. Waiting through the summer between high school and college is enough to make the most confident of students – not to mention their parents – feel uneasy. So this year, we have just one piece of parental advice:

Enjoy Temple in moderation.

With all of these new experiences and opportunities to benefit from, it’s hard not to completely immerse yourself in one thing or another. And sooner than you think, you’ll be coming up on capstones, caps and gowns.

So take time to look around, try something new.

— Study, but make sure to leave your dorm room. More than anything else, college is a social education. Let’s make it clear this is not an endorsement for blowing off class, that’s not what you or your parents paid for.

— Party, but don’t make it your life. We’ve been around the block here at Temple, specifically to the west side of Broad Street. The Greeks are a permanent piece of the Temple community, but like in high school, the best memories come from the nights you can actually remember.

— Save money. It may come easy to some people, but hitting up your parents for money is about as fun as scheduling classes. Parents are much happier to bring you groceries than money for taquitos.

— Be sure to get involved, but don’t get in over your head. This week you’ll have a chance to see all the clubs Temple has to offer – covering everything from anime to the environment. But there’s no reason to overextend yourself like in high school – you already got into college.

— See the city, but exercise caution. There are thousands of things to see and do, but most of them are flung around the city. Campus Safety Services has done their best to protect students in and around the university, but that halo of protection only extends so far. When you’re walking, biking or taking the subway, use your head.

So remember to take in as much as you can, but don’t limit yourself. There’s a whole city out there. And if you think high school was short, just wait. Soon enough, you’ll be the ones giving advice.