Resident assistant outlines paths, pitfalls awaiting UCLA first-years

Stephen Cheung, a resident assistant and former orientation
counselor, answered questions incoming students may have about
UCLA.

Q: What are students most worried about when they come to
UCLA and what advice do you give them?

A: There are a lot of students who are worried about fitting in,
about what clubs and organizations they could join, and about what
they can do. They come to stay away from home and they usually
don’t come with a lot of friends. And if they do, they kind
of know that they’re going to separate from them so they want
to know how to establish new connections. So, a lot of them ask
about fraternities and sororities as well as other campus
organizations. Basically, all we can do is refer them to these
various organizations that they’re interested in and they
have to learn about them by themselves.

Q: What are students’ reactions to their first quarter
at UCLA?

A: A lot of them actually think it’s easier than they
expected college to be. However, that’s because a lot of the
orientation counselors are trained to set them up to have a
relatively easier course load than they could have. The classes
could be easy, but at the same time you’re not just dealing
with classes ““ you’re dealing with a whole new social
environment where you have to meet new people and you have to do a
lot of things with your new friends so you don’t have as much
time to study. So, it’s usually better for them not to take a
rigorous course load their very first quarter. That’s why
many students find that their first quarter taking three classes is
kind of easy ““ especially with English, math and chemistry.
But, as the year picks up, things are going to get harder so
they’re cool with it.

Q: What advice can you give to students who are not used to
sharing a room?

A: Communication is the most important part of living with other
people. When you first sit down, of course meet your roommates
first, but also use a couple hours to sit down and set down some
basic rules. A lot of the times they expect their roommates to do
their laundry, or not leave stuff in their room, or not bring
people in when they’re studying, but … a lot of the times,
people are not used to living with other people so they think of it
as being in their own rooms. So, they do a lot of things that their
roommates can’t stand. So, you have to sit down the first
week or so and set down basic rules like who’s going to take
out the trash, if you’re studying what time you should go to
sleep, how many guests can you bring over, if your boyfriend or
girlfriend is coming over can they stay over, and other stuff like
that.

Q: What should students consider when choosing a meal
plan?

A: Consider the fact that, a lot of times, you’ll be going
out to eat. Dorm food is great and all, but after a while it might
get boring and they have to consider that sometimes they’ll
be studying, on campus or going out with their friends. They have
to consider the fact that they won’t be eating in the dorms
all the time, so getting the 19-meal plan ““ unless
you’re planning to eat there all the time ““ a lot of
the time you won’t use all your meals. So, consider the
premiere meal plan and know the fact that you can get meal coupons
so that your meals won’t go to waste.

Q: What can students do to avoid the freshman 15?

A: Eat right, sleep right. It’s just a myth, though. The
freshman 15 didn’t happen for me ““ I actually lost a
lot of weight my first year as did a lot of my friends. I
don’t think it happens to everyone. It doesn’t have to
do with dorm food ““ dorm food is actually pretty healthy. I
think it has to do more with all the little snacks you eat; so just
control yourself and exercise.

Q: What can students do to improve their study
habits?

A: Study habits are always a problem. There’s no sound
advice that I can give them because it’s up to them to plan
what their study habits are. The only thing I can say is, the first
few weeks, the classes seem so easy that they don’t feel like
studying and they don’t think they need to. But when that
midterm comes, they’re going to have to catch up a lot, and
that’s when everything falls to pieces. They need to keep up
with their readings and kind of take their studies seriously the
first few weeks and then adjust to it. If you think you’re
studying a little bit too hard, then party a little bit more I
guess, but it’s always better to overstudy.

Q: What one thing would you have wanted to know as an
incoming student?

A: I definitely would have liked to get an idea of how fast the
quarter goes. This is a major problem that a lot of people have.
Even after two or three quarters, people are still not adjusted to
the fact that the quarters go so fast that by the first week
you’re still trying to finalize your classes and buy your
books and stuff like that. Second and third week ““ a lot of
the times that’s when the midterms are ““ so people need
to be prepared to be overwhelmed with a lot of work even though it
might be busy work or just easy work it’s still a lot of
material to cover in 10 weeks. I never really understood how fast
the system went, especially when it came down to finals. A lot of
the times the professors would cover a lot of material right after
the midterm and you have like a week to cover the rest of the
material and then it’s finals. It would also have been nice
to know when I should have been studying for what and how I should
have been studying. You can find this out by just talking to your
professors and getting to know the system like what he’s
planning to cover and what exactly would be on the test. Because a
lot of professors will be willing to help you learn about
what’s going to be on the test in the future or what you
should be studying. Compiled by Dharshani Dharmawardena, Daily
Bruin Senior Staff.