Six Spots You'll Hit as an Illinois Freshman

By Charlotte Carroll on August 17, 2014

With move-in day around the corner, you’re finally ready to become a true Illinois student. And while you may have visited the campus during an informational tour or received plenty of advice from older students, nothing quite prepares you for the reality that will soon ensue. Besides the classrooms, college is a campus full of unique locations that will become your home for the next four years. Here are just a few places that almost every Illinois student will encounter and how to be prepared for them.

Residence Halls

Starting with the obvious, the residence halls are where you’ll be living for your first year on campus. They are both an exciting and sometimes limiting place. Think the amenities of your kitchen and the space of your house gone. But you’ll meet so many interesting people and form great bonds with your floor mates. Be ready for long nights spent laughing and a group of friends who carry you through the year. You really come to learn about yourself and others when you live so close to so many. So make the most of your clean slate and be the person who says “hi” to your new neighbors.

Image via http://www.fgmarchitects.com/practice-areas/projects/higher-education/uiuc-ikenberry-commons-bousfield-residence-hall/

UGL (Undergraduate Library for you uneducated folks)

Come finals week, this location will become the bane of your existence and the hottest spot in town. Granted the amount of actual studying you do depends on your productivity and ability to send yourself to the quiet floor. Work will get done here. The talking floor, not so much. Don’t intend on getting work done on the talking floor, because you will become distracted by anything and everything. From dogs to cute patrons to silly antics, just don’t go to the library with friends.

Fat Sandwich

Oh how you love to hate this place. It welcomes you at one in the morning after a night out, but be warned. You will probably, no definitely, regret that FAT MILF (you’ll find out this is more than slang soon enough) come the next day. If you have to stop, share an order of mozzarella sticks or fries, rather than gorge on your own sandwich.

Image via http://www.ibetyouwont.com/big-fat-ugly-challenge-at-fat-sandwich-company/

ARC/ CRCE

Ahhh the campus gyms. While your pretext may be to work out, you’ll spot the usual gym suspects as well. Whether it’s the guys in their bro tanks lifting more than they can handle to show off or the girls wearing full makeup, the gyms certainly have their characters. But they are great places to release stress and stay healthy from all the fatty dining hall foods you are consuming. The ARC even has an outdoor pool, which may or may not have been fuller than the UGL during spring semester’s reading day. Make sure to bring a lock for your stuff and proper attire, and you’re good to go.

Image via http://publish.illinois.edu/undergradlibrary/tag/ask-a-question/

Dining Halls

The infamous breeder of the “Freshman 15,” the dining halls don’t have to be a scary place. There are options people! If you take care to only indulge every so often, they have plenty of lettuce and veggies to make up for the pizza and self-serve ice cream. Plus the halls play host to specialty “restaurants” where they will serve anything from soul food to breakfast for dinner on a given night. They even get in the spirit for holidays and throw themed meals. So try to be conscious of what you eat as opposed to stuffing yourself with everything.

The Neighborhood Frat House

Kappa? Sigma? Delta? Upsilon? The letters will all run together that first week, most likely longer if you’re anything like me. But they provide the settings to some of your first nights out as a college kid. And while Animal House seems to come to mind, you’ll soon have the letters down well enough to know which houses to avoid and which to hit again. Like anytime you go out to parties, especially you girls, always have a buddy to make sure you both get home safe. You may be tired of getting that reminder from parents, but it’s a fact of life on a campus as big as that of Illinois.

Whether you hit these places right away or later during your four years is up to you, but you will more than likely encounter these six locations.

 

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