Professors’ advice for the school year?

Lee Altier
Agriculture
Explore beyond the content of your courses and actively engage! Come out to the University Farm and help grow vegetables for the campus. Participate in the campus sustainability projects. Do a community internship. Learn a new sport! Seldom again will you have the time and wealth of opportunities like this.

Susan Brockus
Journalism
Go to class, for heaven’s sake. And show up prepared (i.e. do the reading). Talk to people who are present in the moment and not connected to you via Facebook, Twitter or your cell phone. Check out all the cool stuff Chico has to offer that doesn’t involve red cups (which should be recycled, by the way…).

Russell Mills
Civil Engineering
Buy a bike and sell the car! You’ll have more time, less stress, more fun and more money. For frosh (and others) it’s also a great way of avoiding that infamous transitional weight gain. Help save the planet with the original bio-fuel, low-emission vehicle!

Charles Urbanowicz
Anthropology
Be yourself, be organized, be prepared and be honest! Know your strengths and weaknesses, and plan your semester. Everyone is on the same schedule, and when Professor X has an exam, chances are Professors Y and Z will have one. Prepare to work: The university is not high school but a job!

Andrea Lerner
American Literature
Seek out your professors. As classes get larger across the campus, it is easy to become another faceless name on a computer printout. Go to office hours, get help if you are unclear about assignments, and get feedback to learn how to make good work better. So much of learning happens outside the classroom in moments of spontaneous mentoring.