Palm Beach Community College - Galleon Yearbook (Lake Worth, FL)

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The first day of school for a fresh- man at Palm Beach Junior College may be very puzzling. There are numerous things to get accustomed to. Entering college is definitely taking a big step on that ladder of success. Graduating from high school to college enables one to take on more responsibility and make better use of freedom. This is for all freshman in remembrance of that first day. Probably the first difficulty we freshman encounter is learning where we are. The freshman who is ahead of the game has already gone to the school prior to the first day to get acquainted with the buildings and their location. This saves him from looking like a poor lost soul on that first day. There are many buildings and hallways and they can be com- pared to a cloverleaf on a highway. Each road takes you some where different, but the outcome is quite unknown. Looking at our schedule we see a series of initials representing the name of the building. Once we decipher the code, we see that the ab- breviations correspond with the names on the buildings. Now the problem is finding that building. There are two ways to go about this; which method is better is left up to the individual and his taste. Either we walk around the school umpteen times looking for the right building or we approach that ever-so-helpful concrete post with the map. The first method leaves us with aching ankles and the second leaves us with a worse problem than the first. The map is in every way perfect, ex- cept for the part that says, you are here. That ' s fine for the ones who know where they are, but for the freshman who doesn ' t know where they are, look at it with awe and begin to argue that point. The next thing is once we find our class, we enter thinking we are going to be sitting with a few of our friends. That thought is soon to be forgotten. Walking into a new class, we think we are the only one who knows no one, but this only presents an excellent opportunity to meet and make new friends. As the teacher begins class, we settle into our seats waiting for him to tell us what he is going to expect form us. Thinking that is going to be the itinerary for the entire day, we sit back and relax. Wrong. That takes maybe fifteen minutes of the hour and then we dig into our books. Many of us have homework this first night. As we are thinking that the hour must be up by now, we look up to see the clock. Unless your desk is facing the back of the classroom, or you have a watch, you can ' t find the clock. ..untill you turn your neck 180 degrees. This is something that takes time getting used to. Coming from high school we are accustomed to eyeing the clock as the teacher lectures. But along with that hourly click that dismissed us in high school was a bell to accompany it, which sent us promptly on our way. Now, in college, we find that if we miss that 60th click and happen to catch the 61st, we will have nine minutes to fly to our next class... Nonstop! Either the first or second day, we attempt to go into the bookstore and buy our books. What we don ' t understand is why they don ' t have a closed sign on the doors due to over-filled capacity! The room is svall

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ARRIVALS to wall people... and books. If you find yourself with a stack of books and manuals that are too heavy for your arms to cradle, consider yourself part of the majority. The next ques- tion in mind is, how am I supposed to hold all of these books in this line that wraps around the store three times? With all of this confusion, the bewildered freshman steps into line and waits. Then, remembering there is a checkbook somewhere in the bottom of that purse or unreachable back poc- ket, we attempt to fish it out. While balancing ten pounds of books in the crook of one elbow and the knob of one knee, we forget all about using our best handwriting and just use chicken- scratch to fill out the check. As we expect, we see our best friend on his last lap to the cashier. As we get all organized and ready to make the inconspicuous cut into line, we see five others (who you never knew he knew) replace themselves in front of him. As the loud, nasty jeers are being thrown at those awful people who had the audacity to try such a thing, we quietly slide back into our old place in line before anyone figures out we had the same idea. Finally, it ' s your turn next. As you try to get a small part of the counter ' s corner to rest your books on, you hear part of the conversation with the cashier and the present customer. But surely you must have a social security number. You needed one to get a job, didn ' t you? I-l-l don ' t have a job. Well then, write your driver ' s license number on the back of your check. Well, that ' d be ok, except th-they took away my license yesterday for speeding from the social security of- fice to the unemployment office. Now— could it be? Is it really my turn next? Yes, ti ' s true! And it ' s also true that I just spent $81.00 on books. A familiar sight is the freshman leaving the bookstore, dashing towards the nearest locker to put all these brand new (or used) books into! Whe- re are the lockers? I thought all schools had lockers. Well, a quick sprint to the nearest mapped post will help me find the lockers. Running your finger up and down the list of buildings, you hear yourself muttering, lockers, lockers, lockers. Hmmm, there are no lockers! You ' ve got to be kidding. This leads not only to ano- ther great disappointment, but anoth- er decision. Should you tote these books every day and increase your muscles, or should you live out of your car and increase your running record? Decisions, Decisions. After all these trials and tribula- tions of our first day as a freshman, we finally come to the fantastic con- clusion that this is the last first day as a confused freshman. Tomorrow will be our second day as a confused freshman! The first few weeks will go along with that sense of newness, but still, a few things will be popping up from time to time. One question that might become a frequent one is, should I go to social institutions today? An- other question is where to eat on that 80-minute break of yours and your friends ' . After trying them all out like McDonald ' s, Lum ' s, etc., you should find a favorite and become a regular. Or there ' s the cafeteria... The main thing to get used to is all of the freedom that we have. College is the place where freshman apply their knowledge of responsibility that high school taught, and utilize their freedom that college allows. Being a freshman in college, along with all of the newness , is just one more step towards that top rung of the ladder. Marleis Miller