Rome, 26 September 2019 - First day of university: no more backpacks, class assignments and questions are now a thing of the past, as well as the admission test. The big day has arrived, with its load of news and expectations. So, how to face the beginning of this new adventure without getting lost among the thousands of new features?
To meet the needs of the students, theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, on the occasion of the freshman days scheduled for the Roman university on 26 and 27 September, with a real decalogue to calmly face the course of studies within the walls of the faculties from the first days.
- Know immediately the spaces where you will spend several hours a day. Finding your way around a new facility is never easy. Corridors that look like labyrinths, classrooms where you can move around according to the various courses, laboratories and study rooms. Not to mention the restaurant and bar where you can take a little break between one lesson and another, up to the library and the courtyard where you can have a chat freely. Knowing the spaces right away is necessary to feel as comfortable as possible. A contribution can also come from technologies: for universities that are equipped with them, screens with internal schedules and apps can be of great help;
- Check for the existence of a tutoring service. Lessons, exams, training credits. For those approaching university for the first time, planning their course of study may not be easy. So why not ask someone who's already done it successfully for a hand? A tutor, be it an older student or a young teacher, can help the freshman to integrate into university life, to plan exams, to self-evaluate their results, favoring their integration into the university world;
- Familiarize yourself with the university email and the other information tools made available by your university. More and more universities are equipping themselves with apps designed specifically for their students, which allow you to book exams, consult lesson times and rooms, manage your university record book and receive notifications to always be updated on events, deadlines and news, in short, everything what is needed to be a freshman 2.0;
- Know the location of the student secretariat, orientation and office for the right to study key places for the management of the university path, where it is possible to obtain orientation services and valuable suggestions, as well as all the opportunities made available to students: scholarships and exemptions, internships, tenders, etc.;
- Know how and when to get to university, with an eye to sustainable mobility. In a large and chaotic city like Rome, if you want to avoid making a bad impression on the professor and classmates right from the first day, it is good to know the route, peak times, connections and the best means of transport to get to faculty. If possible, use the bicycle and ecological means to pollute less and respect the environment, but if you travel by car or moped, check which road is less busy and whether it is easy to find parking. In this way you will avoid arriving late for class or worse still missing an exam, perhaps the first of your new career.
- Code of conduct and dress code. Before showing up at the faculty with ripped jeans or pants that are too short, it is good to check if there is a code of conduct and a dress code to follow. In any case, it is good to remember that the University is a place of training and that the dress is the first business card. By preparing students for the world of work, the University is a place where even the habit makes the monk;
- English and Erasmus. Even if it's only the first day, it's good to start thinking about your future with an international eye. Attending foreign language courses and planning a study stay abroad with Erasmus programs can be the first step towards a career that goes beyond national borders. This also applies to those who have chosen a course of study in English already active in some Italian universities;
- Participating in university life does not only mean courses and exams, but also participating in a series of activities carried out by the universities and by the students themselves. It is what is known as the third mission, i.e. opening up to the socio-economic context of the territory through the valorisation and transfer of knowledge, in a conception that includes, in addition to teaching and research activities, also initiatives with a social value -cultural and educational. Find out right away which projects are carried out by your university, such as volunteering, international cooperation, but also debates, concerts, theater courses, musical groups;
- Forge relationships to improve your academic results. Sharing notes, creating study groups, cultivating friendships will help you not only to pass exams, but also for your future work. Don't waste time and immediately try to join a group in which to cultivate passions and experiences together;
- Above all, be citizens. Attending a university course represents an investment in the future for a boy and his family, but at the same time it is also an investment on the part of the community that expects great things from academic results. Being interested in the great themes of our time, innovation, sustainability, rights, is fully one of the requirements of a graduate to be, in addition to a "doctor", also a Citizen, with a capital C.
