Tips for Transitioning from NUin to Boston Life
So you just came back from NUin, but you’re still undecided as to what you want to declare. You might even think that’s a bad space to be in. But fear not; it’s perfectly fine to still be undecided coming into the spring semester of your freshman year! I personally did not declare until the very end of my fall semester sophomore year, and even then I still had lots of time to switch should I ever need to. My tip for all of you reading this is to honestly just get involved and take a lot of initiative. My spring semester after NUin was just a lot of bouncing around and meeting new people. Of course you will still have all of your NUin friends, but I found it immensely helpful to branch out and find even more people you can discuss your undecidedness was. I wanted to give a special shoutout to my cultural organization NU Barkada because all the people I met there and all the people I’ve talked to for advice on my career path after college have been an enormous help for me in regard to deciding my major and what path I should follow. They were integral to my understanding that a major now does not necessarily define what I do in the future. For example, I have a good friend now that is studying biology but looks to music as a career choice. The possibilities are literally endless.
Another piece of advice from me: pay attention to your Connections and Decisions class. That class was so helpful for me in learning and realizing that being undecided is okay, and even helped me create a structure for myself where I could kind of decide what major path I would take. That class was also able to put things into words that I wouldn’t normally think to do, such as my personality type or what kind of setting I would want to work in, in the future. By giving me all of these tools and tricks on figuring out where exactly I see myself in the future, I was able to narrow down my choices from 15 to 3. And even if I could not have done that, I know for sure that they would still be assisting in me in my exploration or even what classes I would presently be taking. All in all, that class is amazing in helping you get started on narrowing down choices or just helping you think through what you want to do when you’re older.
One last thing, and this goes for not only NUin kids, but for freshmen in general, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there! College may be daunting and everything might seem intimidating but really the only hurdle you should concern yourself with is trying new things and meeting new people. It is, in my opinion, the fastest way to learn and to grow not only academically but personally as well. If nothing else, the NUin experience is a great conversation starter and from my experience everyone loves hearing all the travelling you’ve done! What I’m trying to say is, if you’re still undecided and don’t see an immediate end to the process, that is TOTALLY OKAY! Many people are in the same boat and honestly you have so much time to decide. Remember to go out and explore everything Northeastern has to offer! Somewhere, there is something that will pique your interest and you will want to check it out and join it at some point. And when you finally find that group, it will be even better to be surrounded by peers that have the same mindset and outlook that you have. The confidence spreads throughout everyone. Good luck out there my fellow NUin students, you can do it!
By: Matt Calapatia