3 Chapter 2: Familiarize Yourself (1/2)
Enough of the felicitations; the earlier you get to real business the better for you. Though initially it
will look as though there is nothing much to do around here, but do not be deceived to believe it will continue like this for so long. The little period you have now is meant to settle down before serious academic activities begin. It will make a lot of sense if you can invest in this time. Rather than just sitting down chatting uselessly or meeting friends on endless row, you should invest the time in familiarizing yourself with this new environment you have found yourself. Take a tour around the school in order to get to know the important places on your campus. Some of the places you will like to visit are:
- The School Library
- The School Chapel
- The School Sports Hall/Complex
- The School Main Auditorium
- The School Administrative Block
- The School Bookshop
- The School Cafeteria
- The School Health Center
- The Students' Affairs Office
- The Students Union Building
- The Students Information Center/Gardens
- Shopping Mall/Central Supermarket
- The Student Counseling Department
- The School Zoo or Botanical Center
- The diverse halls of residence (hostels)
- The major Lecture Theatres in each faculty
This you should do preferably in the company of a senior colleague or, in the absence of that, a fellow fresher in order to catch maximal fun. It will also make a lot of sense to get a copy of your time table for the semester and try to take a visit to all the halls where you will receive lectures for the semester. Know the lecture theaters, the laboratories, the practical rooms, and every other place you will need to know to place you on a better pedestal.
Do not wait till your first lecture day before you start to figure things out. If allowed, go inside the lecture halls and familiarize yourself with the seat arrangements, air ventilation, and aesthetics of the place. Look around and probably choose a comfortable seat where you will like to always sit. This will make you better prepared for what lies ahead, and you will later discover that you will be far better than most of your mates who have not taken time to do this.
NEW VOCABULARY
Some of the vocabularies you have been used to, as you will soon find out, will disappear into thin air and other sets of vocabularies will replace them with time. Words like Princ.i.p.als, Vice Princ.i.p.als and cla.s.s teachers will be replaced with Vice Chancellors, Deputy Vice Chancellors and Lecturers.
Some of these fresh terms will sound strange to you if you are very new to the university environment, but with time, just like every other undergraduate, you will soon get used to them. Some of them are explained below for ease of communication.
(A) COURSES
These are similar to what you call subjects in your secondary school. They are the sub-units in which your workload in the university is divided into. A lecturer handles each course, and you must register for a number of them each semester of your stay on campus. These
courses are in five groups.
1. Compulsory Courses
These are your core (main) courses. They are, as the name sounds, compulsory for all students in your department to register for, and more importantly to pa.s.s before making progress in their academic pursuit. These courses differ from one department to another.
2. Prerequisite Courses
These, in a way, are compulsory courses. Adequate knowledge of this course is always required to undertake a related course at a higher level. Every student is expected to sit for, and pa.s.s this course in order to be allowed to register for the related courses. Failure to pa.s.s this course, a student is asked to carry it over and denied the opportunity to sit for its related course at the higher
level until he has pa.s.sed it.
3. Elective Courses
These are, unlike the last one, optional courses. A student can decide to take or leave them (in consultation with his course adviser). They are usually there to make up for the additional units required by the university each semester for the award of a degree at the end of the journey.
4. Concurrent Courses
These are courses, which must be offered alongside each other at the same level. One cannot be offered without the other. The two must be offered at the same time.
5. Borrowed Courses
These are courses that you are required to sit for but are not offered by your department. You will need to go out of your way to other departments to register for the course and to attend its lectures. This also must be taken in consultation with your course adviser
(B) LECTURER