Name: Megan Howell

Classification: Sophomore

Major: Early childhood education

Where are you from?: Des Moines

What was your favorite part about your first year at Iowa State?: My favorite part about my freshman year at ISU was living on campus! I made so many friends in my dorm and got to meet some really amazing people. It’s a completely different lifestyle from living at home and I enjoyed it a lot.

What were some challenges you faced your first year at Iowa State?: A major challenge I had was adjusting to living with 20+ other girls. I never knew girls were so disgusting! Our floor always smelled funny and our bathrooms were nasty. Another challenge was finding a good balance between work and play. It seemed like I was always either spending too much time locked in my room studying, or too much time out and about doing anything other than schoolwork.

What is some advice you would give a new ISU student?:

One piece of advice I would give is to not be shy. I was definitely shy, and it’s so awkward to be the kid who comes into class and doesn’t talk to anyone and has to search out for a seat by herself. It’s not that hard to just talk to someone in your class. Also, I would invest in renting your books instead of buying them. I bought my books first semester last year and spent about $500. I sold those same books back to the University Book Store at the end of the year for a whole $34. Rip off. Second semester I rented (from Chegg!) and seriously only spent about $200.