We all remember what it was like to be a freshman with a million questions. The Reveille is hosting a freshman advice column series as the fall 2022 semester ramps up. You ask, and we’ll answer. All you have to do is fill out this form here.
The first week of classes my freshman year, fall 2020, I left the comfortable walls of East Laville and charted across campus for environmental science — 30 minutes early, of course, out of anxiety that I’d get lost and be late.
As my mask hugged my face in the Louisiana heat, I was met with a brief, beautiful moment of confidence.
A man with sunglasses and two teens at his side hailed me down.
“Do you know where I can find the Student Union?”
And I did. It was, like, 200 feet behind me. I pointed for the man, and they walked off.
I smiled to myself, happy that I seemed like someone who could give directions and not like the scared, clueless freshman I felt like.
I continued on my walk for another 5 minutes, before I realized I was going the wrong way. But still, even as I speed-walked to my class (the 30 minute cushion was not enough), it felt like a win for the day.
Coming from a relatively-small high school to LSU was scary. I mean, I wasn’t even good at directions in my high school that was just two rectangles on top of each other.
Still, even for someone with a poor sense of direction, LSU wasn’t the navigation nightmare I expected.
If you’re a freshman scared of getting lost, you should spend some time looking at the digital map of LSU’s campus and get a feel for the layout of campus. This map saved me a lot of headaches as a freshman.
Looking at it, you’ll realize you don’t have all that much to worry about. If you live on east campus and have a class in the quad, just keep going past the union. If you’re trying to get to Hodges Hall (maybe for a job at your favorite local paper), you just have to aim for Tiger Stadium.
Early on in my freshman year, I would plug a building into Google maps and try to follow all the twists and turns it blasted through my earbuds. The better strategy, at least for me, was to just figure out what direction you need to be walking in, and you’ll probably find yourself in approximately the right place.
Plus, I’ve never met someone on campus who wasn’t willing to help someone with directions. We all remember what it was like to not know campus. I’ve been here two years, and I still need to look up where some things are sometimes. So, just ask!
Not to mention, LSU has a bus system used by lots of students. Download the TransLoc app on your phone to see the bus routes. An added perk: From 5 p.m. to midnight, LSU students can use the on-demand bus service for a ride anywhere on campus. You can call the number on the site or schedule it through the app.
To freshmen getting ready for Welcome Week, have fun getting to know your new home, and hopefully you’ll find it’s not as scary as you think.
Claire Sullivan is a 19-year-old coastal environmental science and mass communication junior from CT.
