by: AJ Sauerhage
SIU is a very thorough school when it comes to expressing resources to their students, however, they cannot realistically cover everything. As a first-year student, I feel like it’s only fair to share my experiences to hopefully help others out. Here are some things I recommend you know to help with your college experience.
1. Transportation
Walking to and from classes can be a hassle and as someone who lives on the east side of campus and has nearly all my classes in the communications building, the bus is a godsend. I was at a loss. The walks and the heat made it hard to move, and I kept getting stress-induced fevers because of the stress of managing the time needed to walk to classes and back, when to eat, and all the events in the first couple weeks of classes. I knew about the busses, but I thought you had to pay for them, with that being said…THE BUS COSTS ARE INCLUDED IN YOUR TUITION! YOU JUST HAVE TO BRING YOUR STUDENT ID! I luckily found out about this after the first week of classes and found the perfect time for me to go. Do not take the bus for granted, it may save you a lot of time and pain.
2. Safety
There’s a police station on campus. On the backside of Trueblood Hall is a police station open to students. This can be helpful with the scary world we live in, and the officers are known to be friendly and understanding.
3. Holy Moly Healthcare-aroni
This may seem odd to some and maybe obvious, but there are multiple places on campus (mostly the Student Health Services Building) where people can get free condoms. I came from a small town where sexual education was simply “don’t have sex” so this through me for a loop. Nearly every week of welcome events was giving out condoms, it was shocking, but nice knowing that resources were available without being shamed for something most of the adult human population does.
4. Diversity of All Kinds
There are SO MANY people here! There are people from all different backgrounds, and it is so cool to see people being able to be themselves. We have people from all different races, religions, countries, and so much more! There are so many RSOs to show off your
background and meet your people with pride and it fills me with a profound sense of warmth and gives me some faith in humanity.
SIU is a beautiful place with a beautiful culture. Times may get rough, but there are resources coming out of the wazzoo to help. If you need anything, ask. The RAs, professors, and really any staff members are willing to help point you to the right direction.
