by Olivia Barker
When you first toured Centre, your tour guide probably rambled off a million different great resources Centre could offer you. If you’re anything like me, you probably forgot every last one the second you moved in. When you’re still adjusting to the academic rigor during your first year at Centre, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed when you’re not accustomed to using these resources. Let me outline some of my favorites and how you can use them to take a load off during your first year here.
- Office Hours:
An obvious one, but probably the best resource on campus by-far. Office hours are the best time to get additional clarification on coursework, get advice about career options, and make important connections with your professors. It may feel intimidating at first, but your professors are there to help you and never judge if you’re struggling. I recommend picking something minor to go talk to your professors about–even if it’s not pressing–to get into the habit of going.
- Center for Career and Professional Development:
During their first year at Centre, every student (yes, you too) gets assigned a career counselor. It’s a good idea to start meeting with your counselor early if you’re looking for a summer internship–they may have connections through alumni or previous interns that will give you a leg up in the search. Also, they can help you with mock interviews, cover letters, linked-ins, interview offices, and pretty much any career-related assistance you can think of. If you need a resume workshopped, the CCPD has peers who can help you in the lobby throughout the week as well.
- Registrar
Freshmen and upperclassmen alike probably don’t realize how helpful the registrar’s office can be. If you need clarification about degree requirements or someone to work through which major and minor combinations are feasible, the registrar’s office can be the most efficient way to get answers–they are, after all, responsible for curating course schedules and updating degree requirements after all. Earlier this year, I went to the registrar’s office with a question about course tags, and the registrar met with me right away and emailed me back an answer within the day.
- Tutoring
If you only skimmed your syllabi, you may not know that there is a custom tutoring section for your class. Nearly all popular classes at Centre have one–tutors have taken the class before and are recommended by professors to help people in the section. As a tutor myself, I can attest that we can give you any type of assistance you need, be it prepping for a test, tackling a challenging homework problem, or explaining tough concepts in new ways. Most tutors offer additional hours outside of the walk-in sessions if you do better with one-on-one tutoring–just schedule it through Navigate.
- The Writing Centre
My freshmen year, I wasted hours trying to figure out correct formatting for niche citation styles (just to end up doing it wrong anyways, mind you). The first time I went to the writing center, I finished my whole works cited page in 15 minutes. The writing center staff not only undergo a lengthy application process but also take a custom course to qualify them to workshop students’ writing–trust me, they know what they’re doing. They can help you with any step of the writing process, from brainstorming to final critiques, and can even help with writing pieces outside of coursework.
- Librarians
If you didn’t know, you can schedule an appointment with one of Centre’s librarians for help with research. They have a ton of expertise with finding strong, credible sources for your research projects and can give you a great headstart. The first time I met with one of our librarians, she helped me workshop my research topic, outline a paper structure, and even sent me links to related papers for a literature review–they’re a truly underutilized resource at Centre.