Top Five Tips for First Years
Transitioning from High School to University may be a daunting experience, and even overwhelming for some. In reality, University is the best time of our lives, and here are just a few quick tips that could help you get the most out of your time at Uni.
- This first tip is quite easily the best advice I could give to starting First Years. I attribute how great my Uni life is directly to this tip. Be bold, be confident and be friendly! Starting Uni is like hitting the Reset button on your life- socially, academically and who you are. Take every opportunity to meet as many people as you can: attend social events, join a society (I Heart is a great one!) and talk to your neighbours in Lectures and Tutorials! Crack a smile to the person next to you and shake their hand,and unless your smile is particularly creepy, I guarantee they’ll be warm back to you!
- Relax! Starting Uni, you may be stressing out about how you will fit everything into life, and have a lot of pressure adjusting, but you will soon realise how easy it is to have a great, balanced life! To save you a little bit of worry, just trust me when I say that you will have more free time than you even know what to do with (especially if you’re studying a Business degree!). As long as you aren’t a complete organisational mess, you will easily be able to balance your studies with your social life and part-time job.
- Avoid cramming! Yes, you may be able to scrape a Pass or even a Credit in your subjects by doing all the work the night before your assessments, but if you pace your work at an extremely comfortable rate, you’ll be able to beat at least 80% of your cohort! During the literally hundreds of hours you will spend procrastinating or skipping lectures (sssh), if you just pick up a textbook and read one chapter, I guarantee you will be miles ahead of most people in your degree. By no means am I encouraging you to study (that’s your Dad’s job), but just letting you know how lazy your competition truly is.
- Don’t study something you don’t want to! If halfway through the year you realise you absolutely hate your degree, then you will more than likely hate any jobs that come from it! You should not study something that your parents are forcing you to, or just for the sake of the money, because inevitably, if you’re miserable now, you’ll be miserable in the future. It’s a tough decision, but consider your options and don’t waste your time and money studying something you dislike.
- Don’t think too hard about your Majors! There really is no need to think too hard about what Majors you may want to take. You have a whole year to decide what direction you would like to take your degree and you really shouldn’t set your mind straight on a particular stream of study. Your first semester of study may completely change your mindset in what you want to do. Just make sure you are aware of any Core subjects that needed for particular Majors so you don’t end up screwed when you realise you need to do an extra subject!
If you’re having any troubles with your time in First Year, come speak with someone from I Heart and we’ll try to help you get it all together!
Yours truly,
I Heart Uni Team