This ain’t your first pony ride. For the majority of students, mid-August was the time for fear and uncertainty.

Is this the right classroom? Should I have read the introduction to the assigned book? Why is it 40 degrees in this Humanities classroom?

For both new and returning students, the first few days of classes can be mildly daunting with new professors and far-away buildings. We at The Daily Beacon want to do our best to prepare you for the worst during your first week of classes this semester. We have decided on the utter essentials from our trial and error over the years.

To those who are new, welcome. To those graduating, godspeed. To those who forgot to set their confirmation to “yes” and lost their schedule, our hearts break.

1. School Supplies

Don’t be the loser who has to borrow a pen or pencil on the first day of class. You’re not in elementary school anymore, and you pay to be here. Your time and effort in class is more valuable than your tuition. Forgetting your notebook is always embarrassing, whether you’re in a lecture class of 200 or a discussion class of 20.

2. Your Happy Pants

Leave the party pants at home. Winter break is over. Stumbling from class to class slightly hungover and smelling like whiskey and shame is a great way to make the worst first impression ever.

In the same sense, no one likes a grumpy gills either. Leave the pouty pants at home, too. Don’t moan and groan because of small class introductions or gripe about actually having lecture on the first day of class.

You’re setting yourself up for a sad semester if you enter a classroom with anything less than a good attitude and an open mind ready to be filled.

3. Syllabus

If your instructor has already posted the course syllabus, come prepared. Use the money your grand aunt gave you for Christmas to buy a nice new ink cartridge for your printer and print off all required documents before you step foot in a classroom.

Not only does having your syllabus show initiative, you will have a grasp at what to expect of the professor and whether or not you should change your schedule.

4. Thinking Cap

Your brain may have turned into mush after eating millions of calories over Christmas break and drinking your weight in eggnog, but it’s time to break out the thinking cap again. It probably hasn’t seen the light of day since finals week.

Griping about a professor that actually holds class during the first week of classes won’t help you. If anything, you’re setting yourself up to fail. Enter a classroom with an open mind ready to learn. Take whatever means necessary to remain alert and at best be excited to learn.

5. Building Locator Map

Sure. You’ve been around the block. You know every building on the Hill and around the corner. This isn’t your first semester or even your first year. But never be unprepared.

You may only have 15 minutes to scurry from the Haslam Business Building to Morgan Hall on the Agriculture Campus.

Don’t waste time wandering the gardens looking for your building. Familiarize yourself with the letters on your schedule and the associated buildings.

Optional: Cardboard and a Sharpie

Whether you’re lost, beaten or broken, a “Will Work for Food” sign always helps. If you’re one of the poor unfortunate souls who forgot to change their confirmation to “yes” and lost their entire schedule, giving up seems like a viable option.

Plop down on any of the streets that run through campus with your backup and set up shop. Your backup will make a nice pillow, and that Starbucks cup is a great place for change. Whatever you do though, don’t lose faith. We will make it through this. The Daily Beacon is here to help (and at the very minimum, provide a blanket.)