As freshmen orientations continue to go on around campus, I would like to take this week out to give incoming freshmen some advice.
Now this type column has been done to death and in various ways, but it’s never been done by me and in a serious manner. And while it’s true that part of the college experience is learning these things on your own, if this helpful advice is taken to heart, your freshman year could be a lot smoother than mine was. So here’s a rough collection of advice that I would give any incoming freshman:
1. Do not sign up for morning classes. Just do not do it. A young, impressionable freshman might retort, “But I did it in high school!” Yeah, and in high school, did anyone ever give you the option to schedule your classes whenever you wanted at any point in the day? I didn’t think so.
That freshman might say, “But I’ll get done with classes earlier!” So what? So you can get ready for the party at ... 3 p.m. on a weekday? You will end up spending that time in the afternoon you have off doing just one activity — napping — because you did not get enough sleep last night, again. Think about it: If you have an 8 a.m. class, you need to go to sleep at 11 p.m. (and not a moment later) to get the requisite eight hours of sleep. In order to have a no-need-to-set-the-alarm 10 hours of sleep, you would have to go to beddy by at 9 p.m.! It’s just not worth it!
2. Do not sign up for unlimited meal plan. Freshmen might say, “But I want to eat as much food as I want!” Yeah, well, read the fine print. Unlimited meal plan does not necessarily mean “unlimited.” You have to go during UT dining’s scheduled breakfast, lunch and dinner periods at UT dining’s specific locations. You cannot just eat whenever you want to. And some of those dinner periods end really early like at 7:30 p.m.
Besides, are you really going to want to eat dinner at Presidential Court on a Saturday, when all your friends are eating out? Plus, if you did like I said and did not get a morning class, you will not be awake early enough to catch breakfast every day. And every breakfast you do not eat is just money down the drain to the unlimited plan.
What a freshman needs is the Any Ten plan. With that plan, a freshman could eat lunch and dinner from Monday through Friday. And then you can go hang out with your friends at the Chili’s on Kingston Pike on Saturday night, guilt-free with the knowledge that you are using your meal plan to the fullest.
3. Live in a cheap dorm, or live at home. I do not think that freshmen really have a choice in this regard, since some dorms require freshmen live there or some such. But do not go for the expensive dorms until at least you are a junior. Would apartment-style living really be that important to you as a sophomore?
But all this is null if your home is close to campus. You will lose a bit of the college experience, but you will save loads by staying at home, and that may be more important when you’re thinking about graduate school later on.
4. Wait on getting the book. This is not as anti-scholarly as it sounds at first. Legitimately, waiting on the book simply makes smart fiscal sense. Not every class even uses the book. It’s like some classes put down a textbook just to sound more legitimate when really the book is ignored in favor of lecture notes or an online workbook or any other substitute. This rule is especially true for the big, introductory lecture classes that freshmen take. You can usually tell after a few class periods whether you really need it or not.
5. Buy books at McKay’s when you can. This is sort of an offshoot of the last piece of advice. If you are an English major, you should not be buying from the UT bookstore. There’s no reason to pay $15 for an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel when it’s been around for ages and is most definitely used for like $3 at McKay’s. Some other things like old textbooks or even guides, like say The Associated Press Stylebook, are on sale at McKay’s as well. Again, this is especially true for introductory classes where loads of people sell back this one book every semester.
6. Take advantage of free or cheap events the university offers. The Film Committee puts on recently run movies at the UC Auditorium all the time, and they usually cost between nothing and $2. Then there’s the Cultural Attractions Committee, the Ewing Gallery and the Clarence Brown Theatre. Plus famous speakers come to campus too like former presidential hopeful Howard Dean and “God is Not Great” author Christopher Hitchens did last year.
7. Explore campus groups, and find your niche. This is the most important one. At freshmen orientation, I sought out the campus newspaper and got involved with The Daily Beacon immediately. I’ve now spent over four years with the paper and count it as the best experience I’ve had at UT.
It sounds cheesy, but go out and look at the campus organizations. Find something that interests you, whether that’s a fraternity, a sorority, Film Committee, All Campus Theater, or what have you. And if it’s not for you, you can always drop out or not go to the next meeting. There’s literally no risk involved, and I promise you will not regret it.

— Robby O’Daniel is a graduate student in communication and information. He can be reached at rodaniel@utk.edu.