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By Trucmai Nguyen

Daily Bruin Contributor Michael Suman is a professor in the Communication Studies department and is best known for teaching the introductory course, Communication Studies 10.

What advice would you give to incoming students trying to make that transition from high school to college?

They have to realize that high school is very different from college, especially in terms of workload. They’re probably used to doing a little bit of homework and studying a little bit for tests, but college is much more intense, much more in-depth. They will read more than they’ve read before; the tests will be more difficult. Also their lives will be more unstructured, and it will be up to them to structure their overall lives.

If a student enrolls in one of your classes, what do you expect from them in terms of studying time?

Make sure that you’re at class every time. It’s your responsibility to be there. If you’re not there, you could be missing something important. You should do the readings on time. You should go to sections; they will help you with the readings. The tests are fair, yet challenging, and it’s not like high school where you could study the night before the exam and do fine on it. If you’re going to do well on the exam, you’ve got to start planning weeks ahead and start reviewing material. It’s just too much for you to master in one evening, no matter how brilliant you are. You’ve got to plan and structure your work and work very hard.

What should an incoming student know about the competitiveness of the classes and of the other students at UCLA? What tips can you give them to stay on top of things?

It’s a totally different pool than high school. Most of the students who come here did very well in high school and they were probably the top students. But they should keep in mind that ... all of these other students were also the top students of their class. You’re no longer a big fish in a small pond. You’ve been thrown into a pond with a lot of other big fish and because of that, you’re going to have to work harder. A lot of freshmen think that they could follow the same patterns they did in high school. They go and they take their midterm, and they’re shocked when they find they’ve gotten a “C.” You should just be aware that that can happen. Basically it’s about working hard.

If students need help, how do you suggest approaching a professor? What can they do to get help outside of the lecture hall?

They should just come up before class, during the break, after class, or come to office hours or e-mail me. I’m more than glad to give assistance to anyone who asks for it, and there are teaching assistants as well.

For those students coming in not knowing what majors to pursue, what advice would you give them to help them find their niche and major?

Most 18-year-olds, they really haven’t experienced enough academically, intellectually, to know exactly what is interesting to them and what they want to do with their lives. I think it’s a very healthy state to come in not knowing what you want to do and to just taste a lot of different classes. Just look at the schedule of classes and think, “Well that might be interesting to take.” Take English classes, history classes, biology classes, chemistry classes, art classes. Just take a wide variety of classes until you find something that really turns you on, something that really interests you intellectually. I think that’s what you should major in. I don’t even think that a student should worry about their careers or what they’re going to do with their lives. The vast majority of students, what they do in their lives, in terms of work, is not going to be directly related to what they studied in school. An awful lot of people out there who are hiring don’t really care what you studied. They just want to know that you’re intelligent enough to have made it through school and that you’ve acquired certain skills such as intellectual and communication skills.

What do you say to those students coming in thinking that the grade is most important?

We do live in a competitive world and it’s not that grades are unimportant, but the important thing is what you take away from (a class) … how it affects your understanding, what kind of a person it makes you in the long run. Remember, don’t lose sight of what it’s all about, which is learning – learning how to think and how to become a better person, learning about the world. Hopefully you can struggle for those grades and get all those good things that you’re suppose to be getting in the process.

In your experience, what do you find to be the general policies regarding make-up work, attendance and late papers?

They should, as much as possible, do everything on time. It’s only going to hurt you if you turn things in late. You’ll be penalized. That, to a large extent, is about being responsible. Afterwards, there will be deadlines that they’ll have to meet, and they should learn to meet them now. In terms of attendance, I would hope students would get enough out of the classes that they would want to show up every time. I would never take attendance in class. If students don’t want to go to class, I would prefer that they don’t come. I don’t want to teach people who don’t want to be there, who don’t want to learn. If their heads and values are in the right place, then they’ll want to be there.

Any other words of wisdom for incoming students?

One of the reasons that I am a professor is that I like teaching, and I truly think that it can change people’s lives. My undergraduate education really changed my life. It made me into a new, better person, just to see the world in a whole new way. I was such a different person from when I entered at age 18 and when I left at age 22. Potentially, it’s just a wonderful experience for these students. Here they are at UCLA, one of the best universities in the world. Some of the greatest minds in the world are right here. It’s such a wonderful possibility with such potential to change people’s lives. They should keep that in mind and make the best of these years.