Welcome to Binghamton University, home of temperatures that are far too low, precipitation that is far too frequent and buildings that are far too generic looking, pretty ugly and kind of indistinguishable from one another.

This vast expanse of acreage will be your home for the next four years, so whether you like it or not it’s time to become acclimated with your surroundings. Some basic knowledge will come with time — the Mountainview hill really is as bad as it looks, the Nature Preserve is often used for more than just leisurely hikes, Sodexo food is omnipresent and it gets old, quick.

For the rest of it? Well, let’s start off with some advice.

Figure out where all of your classes are a few days before classes actually begin. It will save you a major heartache as you desperately try not to be late on your first day. Not only are the initials that represent building names on your schedules reasonably perplexing, but the buildings themselves are akin to mazes with no way out.

For example, the eyesore across the street from College-in-the-Woods is the Engineering Building. Don’t let the name fool you though because you’ll probably take an English class or two in there. And don’t think you’ve figured out how to get from one end of that building to another, because you probably haven’t.

The Fine Arts Building is where most of your fine arts classes will be held, but it will probably also be home to math classes, science classes and classes from just about every other discipline on campus. It is also home to the University Art Galleries and one of many campus cafés. There’s also a courtyard in its center, but it’s usually too cold to be used.

The Fine Arts Building connects to several theaters and auditoriums, including the Anderson Center, where most performances and lectures take place. It’s always a challenge to find your way from Fine Arts to the Anderson Center without going outside.

Lecture Hall is, well, a lecture hall. There are 14 individual classrooms inside the building, which is laid out in a circular format. It isn’t too difficult to maneuver as each room has its number above the door. Unless, of course, you venture underground, mainly for the restrooms, and get lost within the lecture hall tunnels on your way.

A tunnel also connects the two student unions we have on campus. And yes, we have two.

Technically called the University Union and the University Union West, most students just refer to the buildings as the Old and New Unions respectively. The Old University Union is right next door to the Dickinson Dining Hall. The New University Union has the green pipe clock tower sticking out of it. You can’t really miss it.

In the New Union you’ll find the campus bookstore, the food court and a vast array of student organization offices. The Old Union is where you will be able to pick up and send packages, rent movies and go bowling. The Old Union also temporarily houses FitSpace, the campus gym, as its permanent location is undergoing renovations.

During renovations, use of FitSpace equipment and classes is completely free for all Binghamton students. You’ll want to make use of that, especially come mid-semester when you realize how broke you actually are.

Finally, we have the great, legendary Glenn G. Bartle Library. It’s big. It’s dark. It’s terrifying.

The lines to print are miles long, the stacks are infinite and daunting, and so our library primarily serves as a walkway — and a brief respite from the cold — between the Union and Lecture Hall. That is, until finals are looming, and then the Bartle Library will transform into another residential hall on campus, complete with blow-up mattresses. (See asianssleepinginthelibrary.tumblr.com. It all began in Bartle.)

And when it rains, Bartle turns into Binghamton’s very own slip n’ slide, so watch your step.

The library includes the Library Tower, 14 floors of pure, uninterrupted office space. Just about every department has its headquarters within the confines of the Library Tower. Most of your professors will hold office hours here. The elevators look as if they haven’t been refurbished since about 1902 — which is funny since the University itself was only established in 1946 — but you’ll grow to love it anyway.

Actually, you’ll grow to love just about everything in Binghamton, after a little while.