Where to go on your first day of class
When you wake up for that first class this fall, put on that brand-new outfit you’ve had picked out since July and spend your first hour in a college classroom scanning the faces of your new cohorts, the only thing stopping you from having the best first day of college will be navigating the campus you now call home.
To make the first day easier, there are a few main spots on campus every student should know.
Along with the soft-serve machine in your local dining hall, the University Memorial Center, known by students as the UMC, is one of the most important locations on CU’s campus.
On the west side of campus, the UMC is the hub of student life at CU. Students can take advantage of the prevalent seating arrangements for studying or just hanging out with friends. The UMC offers a great variety of dining and snack options such as Dominos, Subway and the brand-new Jamba Juice. The computer lab, printing station and business center trio make it easy for students to take care of any academic or business need, from printing papers to designing business cards. Many of the university’s most popular student groups have their offices in the UMC, along with UCSU, CU’s student government.
Walk a few hundred yards towards the east side of campus, and you’ll run into CU’s newest facility. Opened to students in the fall of 2006, the ATLAS building offers two certificate programs on the importance of technology in modern society.
If you feel a bit under the weather, don’t worry, CU has its own health center. Wardenburg provides convenient and easily accessible medical care to students right from campus.
Soon, that first college research paper will be looming over you. For a late night place to study, on the south side of campus and you’ll find CU’s Engineering center. Open 24 hours a day, the E-center, as it is called by CU students, has multiple computer labs, printing stations and enough vacant classrooms for you and all your college chums to work into the wee hours of the night.
Although some very studious young men and women may consider endless typing and reading to be physical exertion, some of us need a little more. The Rec Center is located on the east side of campus. You can join an intramural team, ice skate, swim laps in the pool, take yoga classes or jump into a pickup basketball game.
If swimming laps doesn’t float your boat, go read a book at Norlin, CU’s main library, located near the center of campus. Norlin is equipped with more than books. Students can use desktops, wireless capability, printing stations and rent laptops during library study sessions.
Walk to the north side of campus and you’ll find Old Main. Rich in tradition, Old Main was CU’s first building, and used to comprise of all its classrooms and facilities. Go check out the famous alumni of CU in Old Main’s Heritage Center (located on the third floor).
