Welcome to Chapman! We are so glad that you have chosen to be a part of our Chapman community of scholars. I am optimistic you will find the Chapman experience to be an exciting and rewarding one. I have been Dean of Students for a long time now, and I have a million deep thoughts that I am eager to share with you as you begin your Chapman journey. However, I’m sure your head is already swirling with your own deep thoughts, so I will save most of mine for another time. Instead, I will focus on sharing some practical advice that might serve you well as you prepare for life at Chapman.

First and foremost, success in college is much more about hard work than brains. Never forget that the extent to which your first semester at Chapman exceeds or falls short of your expectations depends almost entirely on the quality of your own attitude and effort. In particular, I encourage you to focus your efforts on three fundamental components of your Chapman experience that are critical to student success:

1. Make positive academic progress. Like all other new Chapman students, you probably are accustomed to high academic success and are expecting the same of yourself here. That’s how it should be. However, the academic demands of Chapman classes likely will be very different from what you experienced in high school or even community college. It very well may take much more work to attain the same grades you are used to. It’s possible that your early grades may fall short of your expectations, but that is common. If you commit yourself to being prepared and stay disciplined, things will improve. In particular, it is vital that you attend class regularly; most of the first year students who do poorly are those who miss a lot of classes.
2. Focus on your wellbeing. At the same time you are learning how to manage being a college student, you also will be learning more and more about becoming an independent adult. Each of these milestones comes with their own considerable challenges, and experiencing them together can put a lot of wear and tear on you physically, emotionally, and socially. At Chapman, it is a priority for us to help students cultivate autonomy, balance, and resilience; I encourage you to commit to enhancing your wellbeing so you can become an effective agent of your own journey at college and beyond.
3. Develop interpersonal connections with your peers. At Chapman, social connections cannot really be separated from academic ones. College is essentially the beginning of your lifelong networking process. Studies show that students who develop strong interpersonal connections with their peers perform better academically and are more likely to graduate. I encourage you to commit yourself to making connections with others. Seek out your orientation leader or resident advisor, and be sure to check out campus clubs and organizations. Most importantly, embrace the informal, every day opportunities to interact with your fellow students in your classes, orientation group, or residence hall. Trust me: everyone is hoping for this connection – why can’t you be the one who makes it happen?!?

Finally, along the way, the key is to be patient and stay positive – especially this year. Success in each of the three components above happens on a different timeline for each student. Some students feel great right away about their major but are having trouble making close friends; other students make friends right away, but struggle early in their adjustment to Chapman academics. It is important not to panic! Just stay confident and keep plugging away, and things will come together for you.

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