Jamie Mitchell graduated from Purdue University after attending classes at the West Lafayette campus in Indiana. Jamie majored in agricultural engineering, but was often tempted to change majors. In an interview with me, a graduate of the Teacher’s College of WGU Indiana, he offered up some advice regarding things that new students might want to avoid at Purdue.
1.) Attending Parties Alone
Jamie advises that you always bring a friend to a party, especially if you are a female. Though he doesn’t describe any issue he had himself, he does offer instances where females got hurt or put themselves at risk. He offers up that many women at Purdue don’t take the risks seriously because there is a lack of publication concerning events that may have occurred. Having discussed this at length with female students, Jamie suggests that this is an oversight based on the fact that many women simply don’t report the issues. (Note that this isn’t exclusive to Purdue, but is true of many universities.)
2.) Ignoring Sporting Events
You don’t have to be a jock to attend sporting events. This is a recurring theme in the interview with Jamie, so it would appear to be a significant one. Jamie had little-to-no interest in sports and feels that he missed out on some networking opportunities because of his lack of interest. He suggests getting interested in at least one sport so that you can expand your horizons and allow yourself more opportunities to develop a sound network that might benefit you in the future.
3.) Being a Selfish Roommate
Purdue is a very socially active campus. As such, your reputation often precedes you. Jamie suggests that you avoid being a bad roommate and pay special attention to things like hygiene and respect for study schedules. Remember that someone else is working on their future and is probably using the room as a base where they can study, relax, and enjoy some personal time. It might help to post study schedules and make arrangements to allow the other roomie personal time as well as personal time for yourself.
4.) Staying on Campus
There are plenty of things to do on-campus, but staying on the campus all the time also means that in the back of your mind, your focus is always on school. You need a break now and then in order to recharge and enjoy life outside of school. Since public transportation doesn’t cost anything for students at Purdue, feel free to take some time out to explore Lafayette and all that this city has to offer. By the end of his first year, Jamie realized that he had missed out on quite a bit of the whole college experience just because he spent too much time on campus. He says to remember that it isn’t just an education, it’s an adventure!
5.) Being Too Sociable
While Jamie offered up a lot of advice and information concerning how to expand your social network in school, he cautions against placing too much focus on this part of the college experience. It wasn’t an issue for him personally, but he saw a lot of students fail at their studies and waste a lot of time because they were too busy being social to be true students of their major. It helps to remember that you are at one of the top-rated schools in the country and it wasn’t easy to get where you are. If you want to be able to have the Purdue name on your transcript and resume, you are going to have to earn its placement there.
Kathy Foust, a graduate of WGU Indiana and a freelance writer, has a keen interest in various college experiences. Jamie Mitchell, who attended the Lafayette, West Indiana campus of Purdue University generously offered to share some of the details of his experience in order to help educate potential future students of Purdue about some of things college students might be most interested in. Jamie describes his experience as educational, but socially eye-opening as well