Brother teaches freshman balancing act of college life

But he has a safety net many freshmen do not - an older brother to guide him along the way.

Galea said his sophomore sibling, Justin, hasn't given away all the secrets.

"He wants me to learn the lay of the land a little bit, but it's not bad to have him on my side," said Steven, 18.

Justin, a 19-year-old business economics and management information systems major, said he guided his brother based on knowledge from his own mistakes as a freshman last year.

"My two semesters were two totally different semesters. I like to call them different years," Justin said. "I realized my first was really bad - eating habits, exercise and sleep. When I came home during the break, I realized that and totally changed my ways."

He said he doesn't want Steven to learn the hard way.

"I sat him down before we went to college and told him just to watch some certain things," he said.

And Steven still remembers many of his brother's nuggets of advice: "Don't stay up till 3 a.m., maybe get a job, get a routine, don't go crazy. You're here for one reason: to study. Don't go overboard."

Steven, who graduated from Brophy College Preparatory in Phoenix, said he is ready for his first-semester schedule of 17 units: English 101, Natural Science 102, Math 121, Spanish 102 and Management Information Systems 111.

"High school has made me into what I am right now," said Steven, who is planning a career in investment services, and already has selected business economics as his major. "I hope college makes me a better person."

It already is making him feel like a smaller one.

"There are more people on the Mall at 10 a.m. than there were at my whole school," Steven said, remembering Brophy's 1,200-member, all-male student body. "Size does get to you at first, but I think I'll get used to it."

But Steven, who decided to attend the University of Arizona because of its strong business economics program, said he has found everyone at the UA - particularly the people he lives with at Graham-Greenlee Residence Hall - to be very friendly and helpful.

"My wingmates, my RA (resident assistant) - they're very friendly. My brother falls into that group too," Steven said with a grin, gesturing toward his brother's dorm room, directly across the corridor from his.

Justin served as his younger brother's academic adviser, suggesting how many units he should take, what the best classes are, and how to bypass introductory Spanish classes with the CLEP test, Justin said.

He also recommended some of his favorite professors and told Steven what to expect from their classes.

Even with the help, Steven said he has the usual freshman jitters about starting college, but, "I don't think it (the freshman year) will be a big milestone. College itself - will be, but not just one year."

Steven is already learning his own way around, having made some astute observations about UA survival.

During the first week of the semester, he was anxiously awaiting his own computer, en route from Phoenix, so he wouldn't have to go to a computer lab to complete class assignments.

"Some of the stuff they (professors) want me to do is important, and I don't want to run across campus to use that resource," he said. "I feel sorry for people who don't have a computer and have to go to the library all the time."

And Steven, who said mountain bike racing is his life, didn't bring his bicycle to campus because of its value and UA's high rate of bike theft - 390 were reported stolen from campus last year.

Steven said he is confident in his ability to find the UA resources he needs. The orientation program he attended during the summer pointed out many of the advising offices and services he has yet to take advantage of, he said.

But there have been some surprises, too.

"I was expecting bigger classes," Steven said. "In English, I expected maybe 40 kids, but there were only 25."

And he said he's learning how to deal with teachers whose classes always run longer than the allotted 50 minutes.

"But so far, no glitches too big," he said.

Both brothers said they have always been fairly close, but living across the hall from each other this year has been a mixed blessing, Justin said.

"It's good in some ways," he said. "If my parents call, I can just walk across the hall and talk to (them)."

But in other ways, it's strange being your brother's neighbor as he tries to explore his own freedoms away from home, Justin said. "I want him to be independent."

Joseph Altman Jr. can be reached via e-mail at Joseph.Altman.Jr@wildcat.arizona.edu.