What I Wish I Knew My First Year At University
Taking the huge leap from high school to university or college comes with a lot of uncertainty. Am I going to like my program? Is it really as stressful as everyone makes it seem? Do people spend all their time at frat parties like in the movies? Wouldn’t it be nice if you had an expert to guide you through the transition and make your next four years the best of your life? Sorry to break it to you but no one is an expert on this subject because what you don’t know going into your first year is that YOU get to choose exactly what experience your next 4 years will be!
My first year pretty much consisted of getting on a bus, going to my classes, and getting on a bus back home at the end of the day. It was almost entirely academically focused, and I thought that because I didn’t live in residence there was no way to really meet people in lecture halls of 500 students. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with the outlook of my next few years if this was what university was really all about. I didn’t understand what people meant when they told me these would be some of the best years of my life, and I came to think that meeting loads of new friends and having fun at university was reserved for those kids who had decided to go live in residency away from home.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Going into my second year I decided to commit to getting as involved in my school as possible. I went to every event in my faculty and joined clubs that interested me. Not only did I meet tons of amazing people but I also discovered subjects and career paths that I was passionate about. I was pushed out of my comfort zone at networking events countless times, and I have become a trained extrovert when it comes to social situations, but I couldn’t be more ecstatic that I made that decision. After observing the changes I have gone through this year, I can’t even imagine where I would be if I knew I was in charge of choosing this university style in my first year.
Bottom line is whatever your ideal image is of what you want your undergraduate experience to be, you’re in charge of making it that. If you’re solely interested in going to your classes and coming home to study, so be it! If you want to become part of a fraternity or sorority start asking around your first week of campus to find out who decides who gets to join! (Although I will give you fair warning it’s not going to be like the movies...) Go to the clubs fair and put your name down on some mailing lists to find out about events happening around campus and expose yourself to different groups of awesome people. Most importantly, don’t skip out on an opportunity because it’s something new that makes you a bit nervous. The best things in life are the ones that are exciting but scary at the same time.
Have fun designing whatever your next perfect four years will be!
My first year pretty much consisted of getting on a bus, going to my classes, and getting on a bus back home at the end of the day. It was almost entirely academically focused, and I thought that because I didn’t live in residence there was no way to really meet people in lecture halls of 500 students. To be honest I was a bit disappointed with the outlook of my next few years if this was what university was really all about. I didn’t understand what people meant when they told me these would be some of the best years of my life, and I came to think that meeting loads of new friends and having fun at university was reserved for those kids who had decided to go live in residency away from home.
I couldn’t have been more wrong. Going into my second year I decided to commit to getting as involved in my school as possible. I went to every event in my faculty and joined clubs that interested me. Not only did I meet tons of amazing people but I also discovered subjects and career paths that I was passionate about. I was pushed out of my comfort zone at networking events countless times, and I have become a trained extrovert when it comes to social situations, but I couldn’t be more ecstatic that I made that decision. After observing the changes I have gone through this year, I can’t even imagine where I would be if I knew I was in charge of choosing this university style in my first year.
Bottom line is whatever your ideal image is of what you want your undergraduate experience to be, you’re in charge of making it that. If you’re solely interested in going to your classes and coming home to study, so be it! If you want to become part of a fraternity or sorority start asking around your first week of campus to find out who decides who gets to join! (Although I will give you fair warning it’s not going to be like the movies...) Go to the clubs fair and put your name down on some mailing lists to find out about events happening around campus and expose yourself to different groups of awesome people. Most importantly, don’t skip out on an opportunity because it’s something new that makes you a bit nervous. The best things in life are the ones that are exciting but scary at the same time.
Have fun designing whatever your next perfect four years will be!
