First-years, I'm sure you're tired of receiving advice from parents, older siblings and friends, and even cheesy college survival handbooks. Be yourself! Befriend your RA and professors! Beware of the freshman fifteen! I'm sure you've figured out by now that things don't quite work that way. People are only themselves after the first few weeks and before that, they're just nicer versions of themselves—you rarely see your RA and your professor hardly has the time of day to talk, and the freshman fifteen doesn't really exist (it's more like freshman seven).
But Columbia TA Christine Smallwood has some advice you can actually use: "When you leave your room for class, leave the laptop behind."
