I didn’t have the normal college experience. For the past three years, I was a member of the Kent State field hockey team. While the other students were moving into their dorms freshman year, I was doing running tests. While people on my floor at Fletcher Hall were decorating their rooms, I was passed out on my mattress, door closed.

I can’t tell you about orientation week. After all, I never got one. What I can tell you is that for you freshmen, these next few weeks are the opening to some of the best times of your life.

My number one piece of advice: live it up. Don’t take it for granted. Make new friends, prop your door open, go to the special events. You’ll have your whole life to roll your eyes at experiences you see as corny or unimportant. For now, enjoy your freshman year.

To help you make the most of orientation and the start to college life, the Daily Kent Stater prints the Orientation Issue.

Within the pages of these four sections you’ll get a taste of Kent State University: the good, the bad and the whimsically unique.

Our first section will introduce you to some of the logistics of the university. You’ll get to see who the important people are at KSU. On A8 you can preview some of the renovations coming to the area during your time here.

Pay special attention to the A10 article on how you can prepare now to study abroad in the future. In March, I did a short-term study abroad to China. It was an amazing experience and if I had prepared earlier, I’d find a way to take a second abroad trip this year.

Our second section will help you survive campus life. We’ve got everything from dorm living to weather readiness.

If you’re anything like me, you’ll spend the next four to five years in a love-hate relationship with campus. There are days when it’ll feel too small to breathe and other days, like when you’re late for class, you’ll wish campus were more condensed.

To love our campus you’ll have to get to know it. To help you do that we’ve included our Kent State Bucket List. We hope by crossing off rituals on the list you’ll get a taste of the Kent State experience.

Our third section will introduce you to the City of Kent.

You’re all coming at a very special time in Kent’s history. A new boom in downtown renovation and construction will happen before your very eyes. Check out C3 to learn about the shops and restaurants coming to Acorn Alley II, set to open this fall. For the rundown on the bars and restaurants already booming in the city, turn to C11.

Our final section will give you a taste of what you can expect from our fall sports teams. You can learn about new football coach Darrell Hazell’s hope for the Flashes or get to know some of the female athletes from golf, soccer and field hockey. We’ll also tell you about the Student Recreation and Wellness Center on D9, a favorite place for many freshmen to avoid the Freshmen 15 — to learn more about that, go to B10.

I hope you find this Orientation Issue a helpful guide to begin your years here. As I approach my final two semesters at Kent, it’s becoming clear how much being a student here has meant to me.

I’ll end by repeating what I’ve already said. It’s important to prepare for your future, but while you’re here, live it up, be silly and don’t ever stop trying to figure out who you really are.

Go Flashes!

Julie Sickel, editor