10 Tips for Students Starting University in 2024
- Everyone is nervous about making friends. You are not alone and will be appreciated rather than judged for being overly friendly or trying to connect with people you hardly know. Don’t be afraid to share your Instagram with as many people as possible, it will surprise you who you will keep in touch with by the end of the year. Instagram accounts that first years share information about themselves on can be really useful for making a few connections and feel less alone going into orientation, but do not feel obligated to make many friends strictly this way.
- Your feedback matters. There will always be someone to email or meet with whose job is dedicated to working with you and assuring you are having a positive experience. Always email someone when you are confused or disappointed with something, you will never get in trouble if you are respectfully asking for more information or guidance. Give them as much information as you can and trust that they will respond quickly and be happy to work with you. Sometimes all it takes is reaching out.
- Do not be intimidated by the race to buff out the resume with extra-curriculars. This is a huge change that everyone adjusts to differently. Prioritize moving your body and spending time with others that bring you joy. Try as many new things as possible and join clubs if they add something to your life. You are not expected to be an executive of three clubs in your very first year of university. There will be many opportunities to gain experience or make connections, take the ones that feel right.
- Prepare room decor before you leave for university. You will be kept very busy orientation week to combat homesickness, and then classes will pick up quite quickly. Having everything organized and bought before you leave will make it easier for you to set up your room, and you can decorate your space quicker. The sooner you can put things up that make your room feel like home the better the transition will feel.
- Make sure you walk to your classes before they start. It’s important to find each class so that you’re not stressed and running around confused 15 minutes before your first lecture. People tend to arrive quite early to classes, especially the first few weeks. It’s no fun being the one loudly opening the door 10 minutes into class. Walking around campus while it’s nice out is also a really good way to orient yourself and discover some neat spots while seeing all your school has to offer.
- Avoid starting off on the wrong foot. Without stating the obvious, approaching or giving the cold shoulder to someone on day one could end very badly if you end up overlapping and running into them all the time for the next eight months. Once you have a better idea of your schedule, it’s easier to know who you will be able to avoid or even never see again. Your floormates do not have to be your friends- you may never even speak to them, but becoming rapid friends and having a falling out early on in the year can make sharing living spaces uncomfortable.
- Buy one of the card sleeves that stick to the back of your phone case, your school will probably sell them for cheap in your bookstore with your school logo. They will hold two cards, I recommend some form of ID and your student card. You will need your student card to access buildings and your food, which you will never know when you will need if leaving your room. This way, you have everything you need as long as you take your phone. Note that wireless charging will not work as long as you have this case on. I found mine started to look worse for wear after the year so discarded it for the summer.
- Avoid spending money on textbooks at any cost. Wait until the last minute too. I was able to either not get books altogether, take books from the library digitally on my phone for the two weeks we read them, borrow from my library for the one quote I needed to buff out my bibliography, or find free pdfs online. Feel free to check with your professor if not having a hard copy of the assigned readings will be a problem, they will be happy to elaborate on its use in class.
- Avoid early morning classes. I was able to consistently wake up at 5am several times a week in my senior year of high school, and naively thought this would translate to university. It did not. Waking up at 8am in university suddenly felt harder than 5am ever did in high school. You will be staying up much later studying, and waking yourself up on your own becomes very difficult. I found 10am classes very manageable, and could even get a workout in before on the days I did feel productive.
- Plan trips home ahead of time. I think this creates a sort of “light at the end of the tunnel” effect in terms of home sickness. Plan a weekend or reading week trip home maybe every two months. Deciding and booking this ahead of time is a great motivator and push to look forwards to when burnt out or homesick. At the same time, it discourages you from coming home as soon as and every time you start to feel homesick. The best way to combat homesickness is distraction and familiarity. The more comfortable you can get with the feeling and push past it, the easier it will get. It will never be easy to leave, but it will get easier.
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