A Heads Up Before You Enter College!
After the hustle and bustle of applying, you finally got into university! Hooray! The excitement, the anxiety and all the indescribable feelings are now kicking in. It is totally normal for you to feel everything all at once. Here are a few important things you need to know before entering college:
Thing #1: First day of college ≠ first day of class
A lot of people assume that the first day of college is the first day of class, which is not particularly true! You don’t have to get into study ninja mode just yet. You will go through orientation first, though. Now, what is orientation? It is a period of time for you to get to know your college and coursemates better.
The duration of orientation differs for every institution. It can be as short as two days or as long as two weeks. Many students don’t give much thought to orientation. It is important! You will have ice-breaking sessions, a brief explanation of your course and also a tour around your campus. This will save you from the maze your mind makes up by trying to get anywhere around college afterwards.
Thing #2: Goodbye classroom, hello lecture room
Let’s get things straight. Your main goal in college should always be your education. Something to keep in mind is that college is nothing like school. You need to adapt to how the lessons are conducted. You need to be able to keep up with the fast-paced lessons. Also, your lecturers won’t always give you homework as a form of revision, which is both good and bad. Sometimes, you can’t even expect note handouts, so you will have to write your own notes. You really need to be independent and take the time to do your own research to ace a course. Of course, you would also have coursework that you will need to prioritise throughout your time as a college student.
Remember the days of carrying your backpack bursting at the seams with textbooks? You can finally kiss that goodbye now. A notebook, file and some stationery are really all you need to attend lectures. Another tip for you is to never buy your textbooks until your lecturers tell you to because you might end up not using them. Some textbooks can even be found online for free.
Thing #3: Your time is all yours
In college, you are in charge of how you spend your own time. Most students don’t make use of their time effectively. Depending on what pre-u course you pursue, your schedule can be quite free, so you must use it wisely. You can choose to do revisions, join clubs, finish up your assignments, walk around the campus or even rest.
You can do anything that you want. One of the beneficial things for you to do is to join the many selections of clubs or societies. You need to make sure that you join a club based on something you love doing. Because there’s nothing more important than loving what you do. If you think that’s too much for you to juggle in between lectures and all the assignments piling up, then, rest. Your body and brain would appreciate a little peace and quiet once in a while. There’s nothing wrong with that!
A lot of graduates would tell you that college has to be the best time of their lives. And I, myself, too feel that way. So best believe that your decision to pursue your tertiary education is very wise. The answer to all the whys and the hows about college is all soon to be found by you. All you need to know is that it is not all bad if you do it the right way. Now that you know what’s coming, you’ll ace your college life in no time!
