Andi

Having an hour between classes may be convenient, but its not enough time to go back to my dorm. So you may ask, “then where do you go?” I head to the Iowa Memorial Union aka IMU. I’ll admit, on my first day of classes sitting alone was very intimidating, and a little awkward to say the least. But I find it has more benefits than downfalls.

Sitting or eating alone may feel weird the first time, but after awhile its almost a little refreshing. My first day I was a assigned a paper that would be due in 2 weeks. I had almost 2 hours until my next class so I went in the IMU, and found a place to sit. I wasn’t sure what to do with myself, but then I realized I did have a paper to do. Within and hour I had finished that very same paper that won’t be due for a very long time. I even started my online@iowa course which will teach me how to use some of the websites Iowa utilizes. After that I just sat back, relaxed, and played some games on my computer.

Obviously there is a downside, which is obviously that I’m alone. It can be a little tedious at times, but you get past it. I just pull out my computer and right there I can find almost an infinite amount of things to do. Homework, class, games, social networking, its easy to keep myself busy for an hour, sometimes more. I’m sitting in the union now typing this post up. It’s as simple as that!

So here are some things to do and some TIPS if you find yourself sitting/eating alone:

• Bring a laptop (if you have one) FREE WI-FI!!!
• If you don’t have a laptop there are also ITC’s all around campus with computers for you to use!
• Get some homework done
• Find a comfy couch and take a nap
• Have a snack
• Read a book
• Explore a building you haven’t been in or even downtown Iowa City!
• Introduce yourself to someone you see is also sitting alone
• Also don’t put yourself in a corner, it might make you seem unapproachable.
• Play games, you can get them on the computer, or a deck of cards works too!

There are so many ways to occupy yourself, especially on such a huge campus like Iowa. Don’t be afraid to sit alone either, you don’t always have to sit with friends, and it gives you an opportunity to make new friends! There’s something for everyone on campus, you just have to put in the effort to find, or do it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011 at 10:56 am and is filed under General, . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.