My fellow first year Blog Squad bloggers have been writing about how first term of first year was so I figured I’ll throw in my two cents too. Check out the original post on Annie’s blog that inspired this post.
Basically, my point is that everyone’s first year experience is going to be different and there are a lot of lies about first year. Be skeptical when people swear that “everyone ….” . You choose how you want your university experience to be. Live how you want to.
I’ve been told by Imagine Day leaders, high school teachers and staff, older students, family members, and others that every first year will feel like a worthless loser. In retrospect, the idea is absolutely ridiculous but as a wide-eyed yet-to-be university student, I really believed my university experience would be unpleasantly rough. So I’m here to tell you: Look forward to your university and don’t be intimidated by the false things people tell you!
Time Management
- Don’t feel forced to have a instagram worthy Google calendar/iCal or colour coded Kate Spade planner. I thought I would be all fancy with trying Google docs and try colour coding but in the end, I went back to my very UNinstagram-worthy paper planner and used whatever pen/pencil I had on had. My planner is frighteningly messing but it works well.
- Don’t feel pressured to be on student council/go to MUN conference/partying every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday/ study every waking hour/do club activities every waking hour. You get constantly told to be more involved in the social scene and/or join a million clubs but having time free of commitments is actually okay!
Lunch
- I don’t remember eating lunch alone ever. If you want to eat with people, you’ll always find people. I run into people everywhere. University doesn’t have to be a lonely experience.
- On the other hand, you don’t have to eat with a large crowd of friends if you don’t want to. It’s perfectly acceptable to grab a seat in the nest and gaze out the window while you enjoy your lunch alone. This is not high school so don’t worry about displaying social status while you eat lunch. No one really cares.
- I often resisted the urge to buy food on campus and starving out a few hours until I got home. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS. I didn’t go broke first term but I did damage to my body. I now wish that I just spent the extra hundred dollar(s) on food when I was hungry. Eat when you need to. So this term, I buy food when I’m very hungry. I still try to avoid spending money if I only feel a craving for a snack but when my stomach sends signals that it’s not okay to hold out, I eat. Your health is more important than saving money in these situations.
Academics:
- You might be smarter than you think. Seriously, everyone will tell you that your grades should be dropping 30% and that you might fail out. Tune out the negativity. You’re going to do just fine. Have faith in yourself.
- Some of the coolest people you’ll meet are your professors! What?? you ask. Yes, your profs. Out of my professors this term, I highly recommend
- Dr. Kion – ask her about HIV, live vaccines, tuberculosis bacteria. She jokes about infecting the class to find a vaccine for HIV with a straight face.
- Dr. Baxter – she relates Romantic poetry to modern movies, TV shows, King Arthur and more, and sends our class into giggles with her interpretation of plums.
- Lauren, our English TA, is also super nice and willing to help students.
- Dr. Schulte – She will tell you which Youtube videos to watch about animals doing crazy things, especially snakes eating things.
- Dr. Tortelle – plankton, ocean expeditions, the spinning door analogy (you will laugh at how ridiculous that analogy is until you realize that you now understand symporters and antiporters. Genius.
- Dr. Perkins – Because I’m not a math genius like some of you, a math teacher who I can understand during class is brilliant. TAKE MATH WITH HIM!
- Dr. Sammis – Students are willing to literally sit on the floor to attend his lectures. Enough said.
- Well, looks like I put every professor I’ve had this term on this list. 🙂
Actually, there is a lot more lies you will hear about first year. What are some things you’ve been told about first year?
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Thanks for the great post! I took a not of your cool professors to help me when I register for classes next week 🙂
Hi Erin, very glad that this post could be helpful to you! Feel free to come back and comment on how your experience with these professors after you start class. 🙂 On your blog, your exchange abroad looked so fun and your photos are amazing! Thanks for reading!