Wherever you live in this whole wide world, university experience is something which is more or less the same everywhere. You have a load of courses, some good and bad teachers, lots of resource centers, students to mingle with and students to work with, friends to make and several years to survive and make the most of. Many students face the same problems; how to balance fun and studying, how to make good friends, how to avoid university drama or deal with it, how to tolerate boring teachers, how to get good grades and how to manage the course load. Being a third year university student, here I offer what I’ve learnt so far from my own experiences:
- You can’t be boring Bob and you can’t be crazy Catherine.
Balance is key. Loading your mind with information every second and trying to remember it by studying all the time will affect your sanity. Being crazy and partying all the time will guarantee you fail every semester. So keep them on a scale and have fun while managing your study schedule. Go to parties and picnics but keep track of your assignments. When they give you a reading assignment, it’s best to do it. And when there’s a good party in town, it’s best to attend it only if it doesn’t pose a critical setback to your studies. - Friends affect your experience much more than you’d imagine.
They’ll get you through sickness, they’ll help you with forms, they’ll be good study buddies, they’ll spice up your life, they’ll be pillars of support. And if they can’t be all of that, then they’re not good friends. Going through university years all alone is very taxing and almost impossible. You need someone to lean on and someone who may lean on you. Without good friends you might spend the years not doing what you came there for, and you might get depressed for lack of socialization. This one factor can determine whether your university experience is a good one or a bad one. - Your teachers hold your grades but not your life.
Good grades are important but not so much that you let the work affect your health. And if your teachers are mean to you, be civil with them but do not take their crap. Your self-esteem is on the line at university, and these years determine how strong it is. Let them control your grades but you control your life. - What the teachers say matters.
Yes, it matters. Especially when it affects your grades. Do the assignments, read the reference books, focus on the reading. Follow their procedures unless you’re sure you have a better one. And listen to the teachers, some teachers base their exam questions solely on their lectures. Whether you take the notes or not depends on your study methods. But listen to the lectures. - There is much more to learn than what your books hold; research matters and it can be fun.
usually when I’m preparing for exams at the end of every semester and I research some topics, I realize how interesting they really are and how much OI would have enjoyed studying them thoroughly had I some more time, had I studied them deeply during the semester. Our books hold limited knowledge, there is a world out there for every topic you study and the more you delve into a topic, the better your understanding of it, the better your grades. - Studying at the last minute and submitting at the eleventh hour won’t get you graceful grades.
This is a mistake I’ve made often and regretted every single damn time. Whenever I’m handing in my assignments, I have this nagging realization that I could’ve done so much better. We always can do better than we actually do. Cramming information at the last minute the night before exams is another mistake. We might do good on the exams, but that information doesn’t turn into knowledge, it’s short term and vanishes after you’re done writing the exam. And you might get passable marks on the hurriedly done assignments but you won’t get any pleasure in doing the work; you’ll stress yourself out and you won’t be able to go the extra mile. - You will regret not making the most of your years academically.
Believe me, nearing the end of your university years, you will not regret not partying enough. You will regret not studying enough when you had the time and resources right at hand. You will regret not taking all the knowledge your teachers imparted on to you, or tried to. You will regret not making the most of the academic experience.
There’s definitely more to the university experience but for now, this dosage shall suffice. Go take the university years by the horns and climb the levels of success! Do it in your own style: remember, every piece of advice can be personalized.
