Scootin' around Campus

In keeping with that magnificent collegiate tradition of speaking authoritatively on a subject after minimal experience ("Well, I'VE had a semester of Philosophy!"), the College-goer of approximately 4 days shall now impart wisdom to next year's freshies.
Some facetious, some serious.
1) Do not overload your backpack if you plan to stay more than 2 minutes on campus. This problem is particularly compounded if you happen to stay for, say, 12 hours on campus. You're not that buff. And neither am I, apparently.
2) Don't dress up whatsoever on your first day. It really makes you stand out when probably the best idea is to look as invisible as possible (at least until you have found your classes...). By dressing down and looking decent but not stand-out-ish, you (a) can add a full academic year onto your appearance and (b) figure out where the heck you are going and the best way to do things without being interrupted by people. I've found that the more attractive/ostentatious/ridiculous (the line is blurred with my fashion sense...) I look the friendlier people will be. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but my primary concern first day of class is to scoot into my seat after being late, figure out where to stash my voluminous backpack, calculate exactly how much coffee I will need, and other such important things as opposed to chumming up with whomever I happen to sit next to.
3) Lay low for a few days and don't chum up for a bit if you can avoid it. I'm not saying that it's bad to have wide horizons, but with my gregarious personality I have brought many awkward moments on myself by being too friendly. Yes, too friendly. Such a curse generally brings one of three maladies: (a) a victim of "Teh Friendly (tm)" will sometimes shun you in a state of terror, (b) a willing accomplice to "Teh Friendly" will declare you their "Best Fwend Forwever"...even after you both discover that you have absolutely nothing in common. (This leads to the inevitable: "Well....I feel bad not hanging out with you cos you're a lovely person, but we mainly stay silent the whole time...what did the professor just say?" inner monologue), or (c) an overly-romantic idealist will decide that you are "The One." (And we're not talkin' Neo here...)
4) Feel free to take potentially humiliating risks for the sake of comfort. I accomplished this by digging out my old scooter which (at first glance) can only be described as: Safe-looking. Four wheels. I had, in my youth, felt a bit self-conscious about this scooter despite the fact that it totally pwned all of the flimsy little Razors zipping around. Frances (as I have recently dubbed him/her) is a hefty 6-7 pounds of sturdy metal with a turning radius ranging between "wide" and "very wide." Nevertheless what she lacks in appearance, she makes up for in stability, speed, and comfort (you lean to turn her, and can steer her using no hands, with practice. I can handily prop myself against her handlebars and coast comfortably rather than worrying about the wiggly giggly steering shafts that have a tendency to unhandily veer in ugly directions). And, by the end of my first day with her, I was receiving many compliments of "cool scooter."

That's it for now.