<p>(*disclaimer: this is wayyy longer than it should be, but you can’t say I wasn’t thorough. lol)</p>
<p>YaYa, </p>
<p>I am in a FIG. Overall, I’d say that being in a FIG is pretty good, but I’ll tell my whole FIG story so you can decide for yourself. lol. For those of you who don’t know, FIG stands for First Year Interest Group. Its where you and roughly 20 other people get a cluster of classes together based on a specific major or topic within that major. It’s also supposed to help teach you good study habits and help you make friends. </p>
<p>I didn’t get into the fig of my choice (more on that later), but I did get into one in my major. In the college of communication, they have about 5 different FIGs per major, and all of the classes in them count somewhere within your graduation plan. </p>
<p>Everyone in my FIG is great, and I’ve already made a few close friends after just 3 weeks of classes. Also, for me being in a FIG has helped EXPONENTIALLY as far as my adjustment to college. My fig leader has set up a facebook page, study session, and a ton of other helpful stuff that I am way better off for. What really stood out to me was how at home I feel at UT in comparison to other freshmen in my classes who AREN’T in figs. </p>
<p>HOWEVER, when you get into a fig, you already have a set schedule with 3-5 classes, which translates to roughly 9 credit hours for the semester, plus a weekly meeting with your FIG. Mine happens to be directly after one of my classes across campus, and right before another. I have no idea why they would schedule it that way if they know what classes we have for our fig, but I digress. That’s the only problem I have with it. </p>
<p>So far, the extracurriculars I’m involved with are TGF (Texas Gospel Fellowship) for personal stuff and as far as RTF goes, I’m involved with TSTV. If you haven’t already heard, TSTV is the bee’s knees for RTF Majors/Journalism majors, although its open to all majors at UT. It’s the only student run, FCC licensed TV station in the nation (I know, right!). For most RTF majors, you wouldn’t get to handle a camera or do production related stuff until your junior or senior year. If you get involved with TSTV, they teach you how to edit on Final Cut Pro, how to use professional cameras, and how to control a TV station within your first few weeks. There are also several different shows they produce on TSTV that have different meeting times (and thus, no real schedule conflicts). And also, TSTV is the kind of thing where you get what you give. No one tells you have to go for x amount of time or y will happen. You come when you can, but if you’re a regular, you get respect and more responsibilty. I know someone who’s the executive producer of a TSTV show in the first semester of their sophomore year (fun fact: this same sophomore taught my TSTV editing class with footage of him interviewing Winona Ryder and Tim Burton… and that’s just the tip of the iceberg for opportunities). </p>
<p>As far as course load goes, it’s difficult, but It’s college. lol. It’s supposed to be. I guess the real contrast is that everything you’re learning is really interesting, and a lot of them can directly relate to what you want to do in your career. Although academically, its a couple steps up from even the hardest of high school classes, its balanced out by how much free time you have. Honestly, with a little time management, you’ll be fine (take it from a girl who never studied in high school - lol, what’s homework?). Now getting INTO the classes (registration wise) was a totally different story. </p>
<p>Going back to the aforementioned FIG stuff, it would have been totally different if I wasn’t interested in a FIG. When you get into a FIG (which is something only an academic advisor can put you in during an advising session), you register for a set of classes all at once - it kind of snaps them all in at the same time. If you’re not in a FIG, you basically go in and add classes one by one. If you register during one of the earlier summer sessions, trying to get all of your classes without a fig is probably easy. However, if you wait until one of the later summer sessions (like I did), trying to get classes related to your major that count toward your graduation without a FIG is akin to a bloodbath lol. Honestly, you’re fighting for whats left. But be warned - figs fill up QUICKLY so if you’re in one of the latest orientation sessions, I’d say don’t be picky lol. </p>
<p>I’m currently taking 12 credit hours (which is the minimum amount of hours needed to be full time student). As far as actual hours in class… I have no idea. My schedule is like this: </p>
<p>Mondays: RTF 305 Lecture 2:00pm, Italian Film UGS 303 Screening @6:00pm
Tuesdays: Italian Film Lecture UGS 303 @9:30am, Weather and Climate GRG 301K @11:00am, Intro to American Studies @2:00pm, Fig meeting @4:00, RTF 305 TA session @5:00pm
Wednesdays: RTF 305 Lecture @2:00pm (technically, but he posts lectures online so we don’t have to go in on these days)
Thursdays: Italian Film UGS 303 @9:30am, Weather and Climate GRG 301K @11:00am, Intro to American Studies @2:00pm, RTF 305 screening @5:00pm
Fridays: Italian Film UGS 303 TA session @10:00am</p>
<p>I don’t have a job or work study. And honestly, with my current course load and doing TSTV, I don’t really want one, because it would just add unnecessary stress. If you get enough financial aid to cover the whole cost of attendance, it factors in everything you could possibly need, so you don’t really need a job unless you’re trying to buy extra stuff or cover more of the cost out of pocket.</p>
lol. But that sounds like a good plan.</p>