Originally Posted by nino

UGH! I really want my rez assignment now. That sounds awesome.

Tell me about it. ARG!!

I wish I could've attended more events in First Year! I was, for the most part, either studying or hanging out with friends that I thought nothing of the TONS of events that were being run in and around campus. Concerts, IRC in-residence events, intramural sports***, various club trips, faculty-specific guest speakers, I could go on for days about some of the things that I only really started being aware of in 2nd Year.

I'm sure this may be some repeats, but:

Welcome Week:
If you think that you will look like an idiot doing something, it's totally something you should try. Wind your toy, shake your birdie, get painted up, run in bedraces, rock it out at airbands, hit up MacConnector and go out and meet Westdale in your PJs. I promise you won't regret it.

Clubs:
Try something old and something new. It's great to keep up old pastimes and get out and meet new people.

Residence (sadly I know very little about SOCS, other than that they are awesome too!):
Make sure you get to know your floor and your CA's. They're the ones who help you out at 3am when you're having a bad day.
Become a FLIRC! I never did and by the time I joined IRC in 3rd year, I really regretted not having participated in first year because I would have met a lot more people on campus.
Try to eat some healthy things; the temptation to subsist on curly fries is huge.
Get your floor to start an intramural team (just remember that signups occur fast in September).

Academics:
It's already been said, but take advantage of your resources. Treat your TAs and your profs with respect and ask questions. (Just don't be the kid in class who always has their hand up asking inane things). Take advantage of office hours when they have time to give you their full attention.
Don't whine about your grades to your TAs and tell them that you really, really need an 85% to get into med/law school. The secret to getting a grade bumped is to approach them about understanding why you got the question wrong so that you can improve for the exam. 95% of the time they'll notice the mistake as fix it, and you won't look needy.
Remember that the big difference between university and highschool is that it's all on you. You have to make the time to study. University doesn't always seem harder, but they expect you to remember more in less time. Adjust your study habits because you will need more time.
Don't be afraid to get a tutor if you need one, it's better to ask for help early than fail something because you need a second run through of the material.