By Molly Gaertner
Hello freshman, and welcome to higher education!
No, it is not as scary as your high school teachers made it sound like. Yes, it is difficult and incredibly rewarding. Here are some things I wish someone had told me during my first year of university.
With many high school students on the brink of graduating and now thinking about accepting university offers, now is the best time for students to start considering tips and tricks to use in September.
That one bad grade on an assignment is not the end of the world.
Everyone gets a bad grade on an assignment, it might come sooner and it might come later, but eventually, you will do worse on an assignment than you would have hoped. It is going to feel crappy, and you are going to worry a little bit. Even as I come to the end of my undergrad degree I still feel this way sometimes. You will survive and it does not mean you are a failure.
However, there are some steps you should take when receiving a poor grade. Look at the feedback, you are not going to want to, but it will help you understand where exactly you went wrong. Take it in and use it on all future assignments, not just for that class. Then, as soon as you can before the next assignment, reach out to your professor. More often than not they will be happy to meet with you and go over what went wrong until you understand and feel satisfied. They are also likely to discuss with you how they can help support you on future assignments until you feel comfortable and are getting the grades you like.
On the very off chance you get a professor unwilling to do these things, feel free to reach out to another professor you trust, they might at least be willing to help with the more general issues found in your assignment, especially if they are in the same department.
It is okay to change your mind. Be flexible.
You might be embarking on this journey with a concrete plan in mind. This is not a terrible thing, it’s good to have a plan. What isn’t great is if you stick to that plan when it stops working for you. You are young and have a long life ahead of you, do not fall into the sunk cost fallacy. It is better to change your mind now than to find yourself miserable years down the road. You are likely to do better in school if you’re pursuing a major you care about and enjoy, along with putting in the effort.
Be flexible because plans change. Life loves to throw curveballs at you and you might realize you love something else, or you need to transfer and the credits you thought you had don’t come with you, or you need to take fewer credits at a time than originally planned. You might have a family tragedy, or a personal illness, or financial troubles. Don’t feel pressured to graduate in four years if that isn’t working for you. Have a plan but be ready to change things up as life progresses. Plans can change, but it doesn’t hurt to have a loose path forward.
Make friends, but don’t put so much pressure on it.
Do what you can to make new friends! Join clubs or group chats. You need an outlet from school and you need some sense of sociability. However, if it is not happening as fast as you like don’t worry about it. Reach out to old friends in the meantime, and work on developing new relationships in time. It is okay to have friends that are just friends from class, maybe those friendships will go on with you as you leave that class behind, and maybe they won’t. It’s okay either way, what matters is making those connections at the moment.
Always reach out.
Like I said, life will throw you curveballs. Navigating life and university is difficult and you do not have to do it on your own, even if it might feel that way. It is okay to reach out to your professors, a lot, that is what they’re there for! They are happy to work with you on homework, projects, or just learning about your university. Ask for extensions if you need them, or if you need to miss class let them know! They will be understanding nine times out of ten so long as you don’t abuse the extra help. Reach out to librarians, they know how those tricky databases work or where the book you should be using for an assignment is, or how to use those weird printers.
Reach out to academic services. It can be difficult to pay tuition, sign up for the right classes confidently, or figure out your pathing. They will be happy to help you as long as you need it, it isn’t worth the extra stress. They can also point you in the right direction of other resources the university has set up for you. This could be counseling, international services, career services, and so much more. You do not need to find it on your own, most people will be either willing to help you, or point you to someone who can. Don’t be embarrassed.
Finally, it is okay to reach out to your family, parents, or guardians when you need extra help. It might not have gone as you planned, but try not to stress about letting loved ones know what’s going on. They might not always be thrilled, but they love you, and they just want to help you get the best education possible.
Take time to reflect on how far you have come.
Finally, life goes fast. Four years may seem like a long time but it will fly by. Seriously. At the beginning of a semester, you’ll feel like you have a billion assignments ahead of you, but they will go quickly and suddenly you’ll be done. Take lots of pictures, and write down the weird, funny, and fun things that happen. You’ll be graduating before you know it and you’ll be glad to look back on these once seemingly unimportant things. They make up your university experience. Take it easy, try not to stress too much, and enjoy the experience. Whether you go on to graduate school or the workforce, nothing will be quite like your first time in higher education. Make the most of it.
I wish someone had told me all of this as a freshman. Luckily, I was able to learn it along the way and put these things into practice pretty early on. Although, I was not a perfect follower of all this advice, when I did put it into action it really made all the difference.
Have a great undergrad experience, wherever it might lead you!