Before you go to University, there's never a shortage of people who'll give you advice about a seemingly-infinite variety of topics: residence, drinking, workload, sex, classes, computers, drugs, money, profs: the list goes on and on. But in my experience, nobody ever addresses the most important topic of all. I refer, of course, to laundry.
Or perhaps I’m just a laundry freak. I mean, washers and dryers are a staple in rez, but what about all those hand-washables? Knit sweaters? Come on people! If anyone is actually anxious about delicates (like me), bring a small wash bucket and drying rack.
Let's talk about sorting. I will never forget this. I was in the laundry room doing my thing and I look over and see this guy obviously struggling. He says simply to me: “help”. How could I refuse? He had no idea how to sort clothes or even why it was necessary. I came to his aid, of course. As a moral to this short story, I recommend learning about laundry before making the move to residence and away from Mommy.
I want to address “laundry room jerks”. These are people who either monopolize many machines at once or leave their freshly laundered clothes in the dryer for hours. This is supremely irritating when it’s rather busy in that hot, small room and there are no free dryers. Perhaps I felt a little guilty about it initially, but I see no problem in taking their clothes out and placing them on top of the dryer so that you can deal with yours ... putting them back in of course, if they're not claimed by the time you're done. Don't worry: they won't be; the people who leave them in the dryer are the ones who won't be back for them until they need them – probably the next day. And, with any luck, they will have no idea that their clothes were disturbed in the first place.
There should really be a Laundry Swat team. Or at least a sign on the door about etiquette!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Transition from College to University
I decided a couple of years after I finished College that I would attend University. In College I took the Child and Youth Worker Program and in University I planned to take the Bachelor of Social Work Program. I'd loved my college experience and had such a great time. But when I started University, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.
I thought I would be able to attend full time and work part time just like I did in College. Man was I wrong! I was blown away by the difference between the two institutions. I found University to be intense and very different from College. In College I did a lot of hands on, touchy feely assignments and did very well without having to try really hard. In University, there is a lot of reading, a lot of paper writing, and a lot of independent work. People who are not self-controlled and task-oriented have a hard time staying ahead of the game. Maybe because I was a couple of years older, I was able to prioritize my time very well and manage many different things at once. I had to learn to do it, mind you, and I was sorry for the younger kids who got themselves truly screwed up that first semester.
A big help was the seminars the University holds, the study groups, the tutors, the writing help centres. I attended everything. If nothing else, it helped keep the stress level down and made the transition a lot easier.
I thought I would be able to attend full time and work part time just like I did in College. Man was I wrong! I was blown away by the difference between the two institutions. I found University to be intense and very different from College. In College I did a lot of hands on, touchy feely assignments and did very well without having to try really hard. In University, there is a lot of reading, a lot of paper writing, and a lot of independent work. People who are not self-controlled and task-oriented have a hard time staying ahead of the game. Maybe because I was a couple of years older, I was able to prioritize my time very well and manage many different things at once. I had to learn to do it, mind you, and I was sorry for the younger kids who got themselves truly screwed up that first semester.
A big help was the seminars the University holds, the study groups, the tutors, the writing help centres. I attended everything. If nothing else, it helped keep the stress level down and made the transition a lot easier.
Time Management
Much of the first year of university is spent learning how to manage your time. It can be tough to balance schoolwork, friends, family and extracurricular activities. I had a good friend who had been a lot of fun to hang out with but things changed so she wasn't fun at all. And actually, as I look back, neither was I.
Our conversations deteriorated, and we became obsessed with only one topic: how much school work we both had, and how there was not enough time to do it.
She would often tell me how she didn’t know where to start with her essays, how she felt overwhelmed with the amount of material to study, and how badly she wanted better grades. Sometimes we shared these feelings but other times she talked about her work so much that it began to stress me out too, and it was definitely a downer for our friendship.
I got to realize that everyone has a lot of work to do, but if you just get it done, there is much more time to do fun things. Having her around taught me that no one likes to hear your complaints all the time, even good friends. We both probably could have benefited from spending more time actually studying and less time talking about it.
Our conversations deteriorated, and we became obsessed with only one topic: how much school work we both had, and how there was not enough time to do it.
She would often tell me how she didn’t know where to start with her essays, how she felt overwhelmed with the amount of material to study, and how badly she wanted better grades. Sometimes we shared these feelings but other times she talked about her work so much that it began to stress me out too, and it was definitely a downer for our friendship.
I got to realize that everyone has a lot of work to do, but if you just get it done, there is much more time to do fun things. Having her around taught me that no one likes to hear your complaints all the time, even good friends. We both probably could have benefited from spending more time actually studying and less time talking about it.
Course Outlines
At the beginning of every semester of every year in every College or University you will receive many course outlines. At first they may look like a waste of paper, but they are not. Treat yours well because it's your map necessary for navigating through the course. It pays to take the time to read the outline and get to know what your prof expects.
The outline tells you how many projects you will need to finish, when your tests and assignments are due, and how many tests you will be writing throughout the semester. It's a big help in organizing your time. The course outline lets you know what the course it about and what you should be capable of when the course ends.
Course outlines have another use I hadn't known about until I actually needed them a year after the course was over. I'd just kept them as souvenirs really (and because I'm a squirrel kind of person who never throws things away), but I was glad I 'd kept them. I was in the process of transferring from one school to another, and wanted to be exempt from three courses. When I first applied, the answer was no. But I'd kept my course outlines from the first school.
What did I need to be able to prove to the professor that I 'd covered the material? The course outline.
The outline tells you how many projects you will need to finish, when your tests and assignments are due, and how many tests you will be writing throughout the semester. It's a big help in organizing your time. The course outline lets you know what the course it about and what you should be capable of when the course ends.
Course outlines have another use I hadn't known about until I actually needed them a year after the course was over. I'd just kept them as souvenirs really (and because I'm a squirrel kind of person who never throws things away), but I was glad I 'd kept them. I was in the process of transferring from one school to another, and wanted to be exempt from three courses. When I first applied, the answer was no. But I'd kept my course outlines from the first school.
What did I need to be able to prove to the professor that I 'd covered the material? The course outline.
Money
Money
When I first went to school the thought of being given a large lump sum of money from my student loans was a scary thought for me. I didn’t want to make the mistake of overspending and not having enough during the school year.
So I made a plan.
First I calculated how much my tuition would be, and estimated the price of books. After I found a place to live and figured out all my expenses for each month, I calculated my rent and my car insurance; I deliberately overestimated my phone bill, laundry expenses, groceries and fuel expenses to make sure I had extra. Then I added up all these monthly costs to see how much money it would be in total just for my living expenses for the two semesters until I went home for the summer.
Only then did I have an idea of how much money I would have to have to make it through the year without worrying about a roof over my head or food in my belly. When I received my large lump sum of money, I took the amount of money for the living expenses for both semesters and put it in a separate bank account. This enabled me to see what I had for spending money knowing that I would never spend too much and not have enough left.
I then got a part time job to raise the amount of spending money I had so I could go out with my friends and have a good time, because really that’s what College is all about. It was a good plan, but it didn't solve everything.
Some things hurt. They nickel and dime you to death: fees for this, deposits for that, and the biggest heartbreak of all: books. Sometimes it seems that they bring out new editions all the time so that everyone has to pay the maximum amount for the very latest and glossiest. When I first came, I'd worked all summer, and then a good chunk of it went straight to the bookshop. Worse: about half the books were ones I didn't like and which were rather useless; trouble is, you can't tell ahead of time which half that will be.
When you are receiving a loan and working at the same time you must be very clear about the amount of money you will be making before and during the school year. I was told in February that I had made too much money during my first half of the year and they attempted to put my money on hold, which in turn would not allow me to pay for the second half of the year. I fought the decision, and they gave me the money to pay for the rest of the year. But now I'm not allowed to apply again until I pay back the amount they say I owe them. How can I pay the amount, when I am trying to pay everything else?
I decided to drop from full time status to part time when I finished my first semester. The numbers just wouldn't add up unless I stopped doing everything that was fun. It was also hard to admit to myself that I'd screwed up my plan because of the decision to not give me any more loans. Fortunately, I already had some education and I had contacts in my field. So it wasn't hard to get a job.
The hardest thing in the end was to say to myself: it's OK to do this, it'll still all work out. It felt like a defeat -- well, maybe I can be a little stubborn sometimes.
Now I have two lives, each of which I love. I'm fortunate to have excellent classes: lectures, seminars, reading, and writing about the topic I'm most interested in in the whole world. Working gives me a whole new perspective on the same group of topics, and I often find my school work is illuminated by what I see every day on the job.
Mind you, there are dangers working in the same field as you are studying. Some of the profs haven't been outside the walls of the university for many years, and it shows. They can be quite sensitive to someone contradicting them and using something that happened yesterday to back it up. You do have to bite your tongue sometimes.
But that's another story. Maybe I'll write it some day.
When I first went to school the thought of being given a large lump sum of money from my student loans was a scary thought for me. I didn’t want to make the mistake of overspending and not having enough during the school year.
So I made a plan.
First I calculated how much my tuition would be, and estimated the price of books. After I found a place to live and figured out all my expenses for each month, I calculated my rent and my car insurance; I deliberately overestimated my phone bill, laundry expenses, groceries and fuel expenses to make sure I had extra. Then I added up all these monthly costs to see how much money it would be in total just for my living expenses for the two semesters until I went home for the summer.
Only then did I have an idea of how much money I would have to have to make it through the year without worrying about a roof over my head or food in my belly. When I received my large lump sum of money, I took the amount of money for the living expenses for both semesters and put it in a separate bank account. This enabled me to see what I had for spending money knowing that I would never spend too much and not have enough left.
I then got a part time job to raise the amount of spending money I had so I could go out with my friends and have a good time, because really that’s what College is all about. It was a good plan, but it didn't solve everything.
Some things hurt. They nickel and dime you to death: fees for this, deposits for that, and the biggest heartbreak of all: books. Sometimes it seems that they bring out new editions all the time so that everyone has to pay the maximum amount for the very latest and glossiest. When I first came, I'd worked all summer, and then a good chunk of it went straight to the bookshop. Worse: about half the books were ones I didn't like and which were rather useless; trouble is, you can't tell ahead of time which half that will be.
When you are receiving a loan and working at the same time you must be very clear about the amount of money you will be making before and during the school year. I was told in February that I had made too much money during my first half of the year and they attempted to put my money on hold, which in turn would not allow me to pay for the second half of the year. I fought the decision, and they gave me the money to pay for the rest of the year. But now I'm not allowed to apply again until I pay back the amount they say I owe them. How can I pay the amount, when I am trying to pay everything else?
I decided to drop from full time status to part time when I finished my first semester. The numbers just wouldn't add up unless I stopped doing everything that was fun. It was also hard to admit to myself that I'd screwed up my plan because of the decision to not give me any more loans. Fortunately, I already had some education and I had contacts in my field. So it wasn't hard to get a job.
The hardest thing in the end was to say to myself: it's OK to do this, it'll still all work out. It felt like a defeat -- well, maybe I can be a little stubborn sometimes.
Now I have two lives, each of which I love. I'm fortunate to have excellent classes: lectures, seminars, reading, and writing about the topic I'm most interested in in the whole world. Working gives me a whole new perspective on the same group of topics, and I often find my school work is illuminated by what I see every day on the job.
Mind you, there are dangers working in the same field as you are studying. Some of the profs haven't been outside the walls of the university for many years, and it shows. They can be quite sensitive to someone contradicting them and using something that happened yesterday to back it up. You do have to bite your tongue sometimes.
But that's another story. Maybe I'll write it some day.
Living in Residence
Residence. You always hear stories about the loud, wild and crazy environment that college residences create. You hear horror stories about the noise levels, the horrible food, the roommate from hell, the minuscule bedrooms, and sharing a laundry room and bathroom with hundreds of other strangers.
That’s exactly what I was expecting and trying to prepare myself for when I moved into my new home my first year of college. I was living in a suite style apartment, 6 girls living together in a confined space for 8 months? Let the Drama begin!
But I went with an open mind. Regardless of the horror stories I had been told by other people, I was still looking forward to starting this new chapter in life. What I found out was this: People were partying, or in the common room watching movies until you got up for class the next morning, the cafeterias closed way too early, and the food tasted like the cardboard box it came in! There were endless fights with roommates on whose turn it was to do the dishes or to take out the garbage, half the stuff that was brought to decorate and fill up the room didn't even fit, and there never seemed to be an empty washing machine or dryer. Every story of the shortcomings of college that I had heard were coming true.
But the thing was … I loved every minute of it. You didn’t mind that people were up until 5 in the morning because half the time you were out there with them, and the other half the time you were so tired you would sleep right through the noise. It didn’t matter about the food because you had fun experimenting with your roommates with new recipes. You still liked your roommates and even though you may have disagreed on dish/garbage duty, you recognized that they were in the same position you were in, so they became instant friends, quite possibly for life. That tiny bedroom became a haven, as the perfect set-up and places for things was worked out, and it became apparent that either the middle of the day or the middle of the night were perfect times for getting a free laundry machine.
Starting college can be crazy and scary, but it doesn’t have to be. An open mind is all you need. Learning the tricks to living in residence is only a small part of the whole experience; you will never be this age or in this spot again, so relax and just enjoy it. And don’t let the horror stories get you down.
That’s exactly what I was expecting and trying to prepare myself for when I moved into my new home my first year of college. I was living in a suite style apartment, 6 girls living together in a confined space for 8 months? Let the Drama begin!
But I went with an open mind. Regardless of the horror stories I had been told by other people, I was still looking forward to starting this new chapter in life. What I found out was this: People were partying, or in the common room watching movies until you got up for class the next morning, the cafeterias closed way too early, and the food tasted like the cardboard box it came in! There were endless fights with roommates on whose turn it was to do the dishes or to take out the garbage, half the stuff that was brought to decorate and fill up the room didn't even fit, and there never seemed to be an empty washing machine or dryer. Every story of the shortcomings of college that I had heard were coming true.
But the thing was … I loved every minute of it. You didn’t mind that people were up until 5 in the morning because half the time you were out there with them, and the other half the time you were so tired you would sleep right through the noise. It didn’t matter about the food because you had fun experimenting with your roommates with new recipes. You still liked your roommates and even though you may have disagreed on dish/garbage duty, you recognized that they were in the same position you were in, so they became instant friends, quite possibly for life. That tiny bedroom became a haven, as the perfect set-up and places for things was worked out, and it became apparent that either the middle of the day or the middle of the night were perfect times for getting a free laundry machine.
Starting college can be crazy and scary, but it doesn’t have to be. An open mind is all you need. Learning the tricks to living in residence is only a small part of the whole experience; you will never be this age or in this spot again, so relax and just enjoy it. And don’t let the horror stories get you down.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Moving Far Away
Moving Far Away
Well my first time moving away from home was to come here. I decided to attend a College six hours away from my home town; I was excited and had no worries about moving away from home.
Sounds obvious, but I wasn't thinking about it: you must be prepared to take care of yourself. At home, if something breaks, you always know who to go to to get it fixed; if you don't, you ask around. Here, it's different. The second day here, the toilet gets plugged and we don't know what to do. I mean, we're not stupid and we try to use the plunger but nothing is happening, so we leave it for a day thinking if we flushed it, water would start going everywhere. A day later we call someone and they have to come and fix it for us. My laptop battery also acts up which resulted in its turning itself off and shutting down. Then our bathroom light starts flickering, which was another thing that needs fixing!
But more important than all of that, my car breaks down, and I want someone who would do a reasonable job and not rip me off. Easy at home: the place my dad has gone to for the last hundred years has known me since I was in diapers. He's straight up, and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't take me to the cleaners because he doesn't want to lose my dad's business, or my uncle's, or any of their friends. Because they are most of his customers.
Here, I have no idea who to go to. My friends are new to the city too, and it needs a lot of asking around before I get a recommendation I can trust. And I need to buy a map to find my way there.
I mentioned my friends. I hadn't thought of myself as someone who made friends easily; I hadn't needed to do much of it even though I hate being on my own, because I already had enough of them. Different here: I've made a lot of friends right away (helped by the organized activities designed to just that for us), because I had to.
My advice to anyone thinking of moving far away: go for it, it's best experience of my life. New people, new town, new life!
Well my first time moving away from home was to come here. I decided to attend a College six hours away from my home town; I was excited and had no worries about moving away from home.
Sounds obvious, but I wasn't thinking about it: you must be prepared to take care of yourself. At home, if something breaks, you always know who to go to to get it fixed; if you don't, you ask around. Here, it's different. The second day here, the toilet gets plugged and we don't know what to do. I mean, we're not stupid and we try to use the plunger but nothing is happening, so we leave it for a day thinking if we flushed it, water would start going everywhere. A day later we call someone and they have to come and fix it for us. My laptop battery also acts up which resulted in its turning itself off and shutting down. Then our bathroom light starts flickering, which was another thing that needs fixing!
But more important than all of that, my car breaks down, and I want someone who would do a reasonable job and not rip me off. Easy at home: the place my dad has gone to for the last hundred years has known me since I was in diapers. He's straight up, and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't take me to the cleaners because he doesn't want to lose my dad's business, or my uncle's, or any of their friends. Because they are most of his customers.
Here, I have no idea who to go to. My friends are new to the city too, and it needs a lot of asking around before I get a recommendation I can trust. And I need to buy a map to find my way there.
I mentioned my friends. I hadn't thought of myself as someone who made friends easily; I hadn't needed to do much of it even though I hate being on my own, because I already had enough of them. Different here: I've made a lot of friends right away (helped by the organized activities designed to just that for us), because I had to.
My advice to anyone thinking of moving far away: go for it, it's best experience of my life. New people, new town, new life!
Dear Diary!
September
University so far has been interesting. There have been a few problems here and there, but all in all, it has been a really great time. One of the hardest things that I am finding is that it is extremely difficult to have a "life" that is not completely controlled by school. I find it very hard to balance friends, family, and of course my school work! It feels as though I always have homework and I have no time to do it. I have been going out and meeting new people but when I am out I am always concerned with the fact that I have a million and one pages left to read. It just feels as though my entire life is controlled by school with no time left for me. And yes that is the point of University ... but it is very difficult to get used to.
Another issue I have had is with some of my profs. I attend a very diverse University in which the students and the staff come from different backgrounds. A struggle I have been having is understanding some of my profs who are from different areas and have strong accents. It is frustrating because in the class I am focusing so hard just to simply understand the accent that I can't take in the information provided in the lecture. This frustrates me because I get far behind. Having a prof that I can't understand is also in no way a motivation to attend the class -- the first class I skipped was for this very reason.
University is a really fun life. I think the trick is to find a balance between everything in your life. School is very important, but you can't consume all your time on it. You need to resolve to still have a social life. You need to decide to do homework when it's assigned and try to stay on top of everything. The next trick is actually doing all that!!
October
I have been busy busy!
Things have been good both academically and socially. I think anyone would agree that the social aspect of university is far more enjoyable then the academic aspect. Although, I am really lucky in the sense that I truly enjoy what I am learning. That is a big help. I chose a program that I knew I would like, which helps a lot when it comes to the millions of assigned readings. My parents were actually very unsure of my getting a criminology degree. They thought "science" would be the better way to go because "that is where the jobs and money are at." I am really glad I decided for myself which program to take because I love it!
My issue with my prof with the strong accent has not gotten any better. It is by far the most frustrating thing I have come across while at University. We do have TAs assigned to the course, but there are 200 students struggling to understand the prof, and therefore the TAs do not have the time to help each and everyone of us. The TAs also only have one hour during every week that they are available for extra help. So we are really stuck on our own.
The amount of reading that is assigned is very overwhelming. Nobody could finish it all. You have to try and pick and choose the most important readings and make sure that you get them done. I know: I am struggling right now with midterms coming up shortly and I am behind in my readings. Everyone who goes through university says "you can't procrastinate". And even with everyone saying that to prepare you ... it still goes in one ear and out the other! You need to actually have a million pages piled up for you to read in order to learn you can't put off doing them. To find the time to do homework you really need to cut out the nonessential things in life. For instance, almost every student has an addiction to Facebook! So instead of checking your Facebook five times a day, do it twice!
Right now I am really starting to feel the pressure of school. It hit near the end of September. At the beginning it was all fun and games, and you don't realize how much homework you have and then all of a sudden you are so far behind! And my schedule has changed a lot! Since then, there hasn't been a night that I have gone to bed before 1 am. I have been leaving my homework until the last minute so I am usually up past midnight trying to finish it then. It isn't a nice cycle! Ha!
But enough negativity .... University is a blast! It makes you learn how to survive on your own, which I needed to do!! I have also had the time of my life getting to meet all these new people! I am really looking forward to the next ... almost 4 years!!!
December
I've been busy busy busy!
I am loving university. It's great, even though I am beyond busy and feel like I don't even have a chance to sit down. I felt I had to get a part time job because it was really foolish on my part to not save at least some of the money I made in high school. I've dipped into my savings too much already and don't want to drain them. It is hard to balance a job and school: no doubt about that. But it is do-able. You just have less time to put towards the things you really want to do, such as drinking with your friends!
At the beginning of school I found it hard to meet people. That issue has gone away. I've met so many people and have made good friends. Meeting people is something that seems difficult but is a simple problem you have to overcome yourself. You need to go out and do activities that you are interested in and find friends -- they don't come to you. The first two weeks were really hard but after I started putting myself out there more and left my house more (obviously lol), I started meeting lots of great people!
Exams are coming up and they have put the biggest stress on everyone! It is almost everyone's resolution to study early for exams and do well, but it's hard to actually follow through with the plan. You can't study early for exams if you still have assignments flying at you. Exams are so much different than in high school because they mean so much more! None of my exams are worth less than 35% of my mark, whereas in high school if they were worth 15% then I was freaking out! One thing I know that has changed for me is when I started University I didn't like the fact that my profs didn't know me. In high school I knew my teachers well, and they also knew me well. We both knew each other's backgrounds and histories. And now in University I don't know a single thing about my professors; I don't even know some of their names!!!! Coming from a small town high school to a big city university is a huge change in that aspect. I have grown to like this, though. The school and the professors do not care about individuals. It is a business. They do not intend to be actually mean, but profs sometimes have 500 students a semester, so they can't care. This makes it nice in the sense that you don't have people tracking you down and nagging at you, like a lot of high school teachers did. If you miss class, a test, an assignment .... there's no punishment. You fail what you miss and that's that. So I started out not liking this, but now enjoy the feeling of freedom along with responsibility.
I have an exam tomorrow that I better start, yes start, studying for! lol
University so far has been interesting. There have been a few problems here and there, but all in all, it has been a really great time. One of the hardest things that I am finding is that it is extremely difficult to have a "life" that is not completely controlled by school. I find it very hard to balance friends, family, and of course my school work! It feels as though I always have homework and I have no time to do it. I have been going out and meeting new people but when I am out I am always concerned with the fact that I have a million and one pages left to read. It just feels as though my entire life is controlled by school with no time left for me. And yes that is the point of University ... but it is very difficult to get used to.
Another issue I have had is with some of my profs. I attend a very diverse University in which the students and the staff come from different backgrounds. A struggle I have been having is understanding some of my profs who are from different areas and have strong accents. It is frustrating because in the class I am focusing so hard just to simply understand the accent that I can't take in the information provided in the lecture. This frustrates me because I get far behind. Having a prof that I can't understand is also in no way a motivation to attend the class -- the first class I skipped was for this very reason.
University is a really fun life. I think the trick is to find a balance between everything in your life. School is very important, but you can't consume all your time on it. You need to resolve to still have a social life. You need to decide to do homework when it's assigned and try to stay on top of everything. The next trick is actually doing all that!!
October
I have been busy busy!
Things have been good both academically and socially. I think anyone would agree that the social aspect of university is far more enjoyable then the academic aspect. Although, I am really lucky in the sense that I truly enjoy what I am learning. That is a big help. I chose a program that I knew I would like, which helps a lot when it comes to the millions of assigned readings. My parents were actually very unsure of my getting a criminology degree. They thought "science" would be the better way to go because "that is where the jobs and money are at." I am really glad I decided for myself which program to take because I love it!
My issue with my prof with the strong accent has not gotten any better. It is by far the most frustrating thing I have come across while at University. We do have TAs assigned to the course, but there are 200 students struggling to understand the prof, and therefore the TAs do not have the time to help each and everyone of us. The TAs also only have one hour during every week that they are available for extra help. So we are really stuck on our own.
The amount of reading that is assigned is very overwhelming. Nobody could finish it all. You have to try and pick and choose the most important readings and make sure that you get them done. I know: I am struggling right now with midterms coming up shortly and I am behind in my readings. Everyone who goes through university says "you can't procrastinate". And even with everyone saying that to prepare you ... it still goes in one ear and out the other! You need to actually have a million pages piled up for you to read in order to learn you can't put off doing them. To find the time to do homework you really need to cut out the nonessential things in life. For instance, almost every student has an addiction to Facebook! So instead of checking your Facebook five times a day, do it twice!
Right now I am really starting to feel the pressure of school. It hit near the end of September. At the beginning it was all fun and games, and you don't realize how much homework you have and then all of a sudden you are so far behind! And my schedule has changed a lot! Since then, there hasn't been a night that I have gone to bed before 1 am. I have been leaving my homework until the last minute so I am usually up past midnight trying to finish it then. It isn't a nice cycle! Ha!
But enough negativity .... University is a blast! It makes you learn how to survive on your own, which I needed to do!! I have also had the time of my life getting to meet all these new people! I am really looking forward to the next ... almost 4 years!!!
December
I've been busy busy busy!
I am loving university. It's great, even though I am beyond busy and feel like I don't even have a chance to sit down. I felt I had to get a part time job because it was really foolish on my part to not save at least some of the money I made in high school. I've dipped into my savings too much already and don't want to drain them. It is hard to balance a job and school: no doubt about that. But it is do-able. You just have less time to put towards the things you really want to do, such as drinking with your friends!
At the beginning of school I found it hard to meet people. That issue has gone away. I've met so many people and have made good friends. Meeting people is something that seems difficult but is a simple problem you have to overcome yourself. You need to go out and do activities that you are interested in and find friends -- they don't come to you. The first two weeks were really hard but after I started putting myself out there more and left my house more (obviously lol), I started meeting lots of great people!
Exams are coming up and they have put the biggest stress on everyone! It is almost everyone's resolution to study early for exams and do well, but it's hard to actually follow through with the plan. You can't study early for exams if you still have assignments flying at you. Exams are so much different than in high school because they mean so much more! None of my exams are worth less than 35% of my mark, whereas in high school if they were worth 15% then I was freaking out! One thing I know that has changed for me is when I started University I didn't like the fact that my profs didn't know me. In high school I knew my teachers well, and they also knew me well. We both knew each other's backgrounds and histories. And now in University I don't know a single thing about my professors; I don't even know some of their names!!!! Coming from a small town high school to a big city university is a huge change in that aspect. I have grown to like this, though. The school and the professors do not care about individuals. It is a business. They do not intend to be actually mean, but profs sometimes have 500 students a semester, so they can't care. This makes it nice in the sense that you don't have people tracking you down and nagging at you, like a lot of high school teachers did. If you miss class, a test, an assignment .... there's no punishment. You fail what you miss and that's that. So I started out not liking this, but now enjoy the feeling of freedom along with responsibility.
I have an exam tomorrow that I better start, yes start, studying for! lol
Time of Transition
College is a period of profound transition. Many swift changes drastically affect peoples' lives; they know it's going to happen, of course, but the exact changes are quite hard to predict. Nevertheless, some things that happen are so common that they can be confidently predicted. People who anticipate these changes and prepare themselves for what's to come generally have a much better time, and they do better here as well.
Moving away from home to live in a dorm or residence hall or off-campus dwelling is a deep lifestyle change. Many of the subtle things we previously took for granted can be painfully absent in the first weeks of college. Losing the things we are used to, such as an (at least) occasionally made bed, consistent home-cooked meals, a solid family support system right over your shoulder, seldom having to do your own laundry, and having a roommate who you don't know and haven't chosen, can serve as a fierce shock to any incoming student. Indeed, many students have difficulty in first dealing with their roommate or getting used to cafeteria food.
There is a second, perhaps even more serious transition that some students fail to accommodate. In the beginning of your first semester, coursework may appear to be remarkably simple. Students can decline to complete their reading assignments without an obvious, immediate consequence. Some professors do not penalize students who miss class, and offer everything that's in their lectures online. Some classes have little graded coursework at all, with only midterm and final scores counting towards your final mark or GPA. As well, peers may well not be entirely dedicated to academics; they can behave in noisy, smelly and generally objectionable kinds of ways.
Some students feel the temptation to join in. Others are distracted or frustrated or angry, to the point that their concentration is affected. Not only that: all these distractions can also distort the idea of what being a successful college student actually entails. You forget why you came.
As the semester continues throughout the weeks, however, academic coursework intensifies. Students who slacked off early on academically begin to fall behind. Professors regularly require that students apply what was learned or supposed to be learned, in class and in assignments. Hard for the people who never did get around to doing much of anything in September and October.
For these and other reasons, some people have a very disappointing first semester. But for the ones who do succeed in that crucial first semester, much of the most challenging parts of college is past; difficulties and disappointments overcome.
Here at least, the students who do well are the ones who train themselves to say, “Sounds like a good time, but I'm too busy tonight.” And they're the ones who are willing to work harder than they did in High School.
Moving away from home to live in a dorm or residence hall or off-campus dwelling is a deep lifestyle change. Many of the subtle things we previously took for granted can be painfully absent in the first weeks of college. Losing the things we are used to, such as an (at least) occasionally made bed, consistent home-cooked meals, a solid family support system right over your shoulder, seldom having to do your own laundry, and having a roommate who you don't know and haven't chosen, can serve as a fierce shock to any incoming student. Indeed, many students have difficulty in first dealing with their roommate or getting used to cafeteria food.
There is a second, perhaps even more serious transition that some students fail to accommodate. In the beginning of your first semester, coursework may appear to be remarkably simple. Students can decline to complete their reading assignments without an obvious, immediate consequence. Some professors do not penalize students who miss class, and offer everything that's in their lectures online. Some classes have little graded coursework at all, with only midterm and final scores counting towards your final mark or GPA. As well, peers may well not be entirely dedicated to academics; they can behave in noisy, smelly and generally objectionable kinds of ways.
Some students feel the temptation to join in. Others are distracted or frustrated or angry, to the point that their concentration is affected. Not only that: all these distractions can also distort the idea of what being a successful college student actually entails. You forget why you came.
As the semester continues throughout the weeks, however, academic coursework intensifies. Students who slacked off early on academically begin to fall behind. Professors regularly require that students apply what was learned or supposed to be learned, in class and in assignments. Hard for the people who never did get around to doing much of anything in September and October.
For these and other reasons, some people have a very disappointing first semester. But for the ones who do succeed in that crucial first semester, much of the most challenging parts of college is past; difficulties and disappointments overcome.
Here at least, the students who do well are the ones who train themselves to say, “Sounds like a good time, but I'm too busy tonight.” And they're the ones who are willing to work harder than they did in High School.
Intro Week Was Great!
To sum up Intro week in one word: Interesting!
I was really confused about what Intro week was, whether you had to pay for it, what it was about. I went there completely blind. I didn't think it would be interesting. When I looked at the website before I came to University, it looked boring. I was so so wrong. It was probably made to look that way for parents who view the website.
The first night I was there, I found the building very quiet. It wasn't what I expected. I wanted to meet people and get right into university life. Instead, I ended up getting in my pajamas and watching TV. But then my neighbour knocked on the door and invited me to a party. So I got dressed, went out and met a whole bunch of people which was really cool. And that just kept on going on all week.
During the day there were activities organized for us by upper years. I'd heard that a few years ago, Intro Week had gotten out of hand; people got charged by the cops, and others ended up in hospital, mostly as a result of alcohol or drugs. So the University itself decided to get involved in Intro Week in order to control it a bit more. I don’t know if that’s true. But I do know that the activities were just what I needed even though I didn't know I needed them at the time.
The first day, there was a 6 am wake-up call – Dons marching through the halls banging pots and pans together. You could choose to ignore them, or you could get your butt out of bed and be part of the group. Although I really wanted to sleep in after crashing into bed at 4 am after the party, I didn't want to miss out on anything, so I got my butt out of bed and went to the introductory activity.
We were organized into groups and played countless mind-numbing games which dropped our defences, exhausted our minds, and relaxed everyone enough to get over being shy in order to get to know one another. Ice-breaker events and things like scavenger hunts that took us all over campus; we stayed up until we dropped from sheer exhaustion. That was the intent of the university actually: to keep everyone busy and overtired all the time, so people who participated had no time or energy left to get into trouble.
Still, to be honest, it was a drunkfest. You could meet someone and the next day they had no idea they even met you because they were too drunk, and the same went for you sometimes! But on the other hand, you could talk to absolutely anyone without it being awkward or weird. If you went up and struck a conversation with someone on Frosh week it was A-OK! And regardless of the fact that everyone was drunk, I met my best friends from school during that week.
But back to the first morning: everyone was given a shirt and a package with the week's calendar from which you could pick the activities you wanted to do. The activities were fun and were worth doing in order to meet all sorts of people. When you go to university, you meet people from all over. Coast to coast, everywhere in between, and even a few foreign students. So during the first week of school, Intro week activities and memories are an easy conversation thread! It is amazing what booze and big groups of people can do together!
I did read about a few sessions that I wasn't sure I wanted to go to. For example, there was a Venus Sexuality and Sensuality course on the second day. I had heard it was funny so I went with my roommates. It was an hour long course on sex toys, what they were, how to use them. Eye opening. I think the university did it for shock value but it brought us first years closer through participating in the same shocking things. And I now know how to do bondage. But that's another story.
You do need to be careful during Intro week though. Everyone is in such high spirits that it is almost like everyone's supposedly-good decision-making skills go down the drain. You are just so excited about this new life you are about to start that you have no problem spending that extra twenty dollars or drinking another drink. During your first week everyone usually drinks more than they thought they ever could and spends more then they would ever have wanted to. Not to say I would take any of that back...
As I said, Intro week sure was interesting!
I was really confused about what Intro week was, whether you had to pay for it, what it was about. I went there completely blind. I didn't think it would be interesting. When I looked at the website before I came to University, it looked boring. I was so so wrong. It was probably made to look that way for parents who view the website.
The first night I was there, I found the building very quiet. It wasn't what I expected. I wanted to meet people and get right into university life. Instead, I ended up getting in my pajamas and watching TV. But then my neighbour knocked on the door and invited me to a party. So I got dressed, went out and met a whole bunch of people which was really cool. And that just kept on going on all week.
During the day there were activities organized for us by upper years. I'd heard that a few years ago, Intro Week had gotten out of hand; people got charged by the cops, and others ended up in hospital, mostly as a result of alcohol or drugs. So the University itself decided to get involved in Intro Week in order to control it a bit more. I don’t know if that’s true. But I do know that the activities were just what I needed even though I didn't know I needed them at the time.
The first day, there was a 6 am wake-up call – Dons marching through the halls banging pots and pans together. You could choose to ignore them, or you could get your butt out of bed and be part of the group. Although I really wanted to sleep in after crashing into bed at 4 am after the party, I didn't want to miss out on anything, so I got my butt out of bed and went to the introductory activity.
We were organized into groups and played countless mind-numbing games which dropped our defences, exhausted our minds, and relaxed everyone enough to get over being shy in order to get to know one another. Ice-breaker events and things like scavenger hunts that took us all over campus; we stayed up until we dropped from sheer exhaustion. That was the intent of the university actually: to keep everyone busy and overtired all the time, so people who participated had no time or energy left to get into trouble.
Still, to be honest, it was a drunkfest. You could meet someone and the next day they had no idea they even met you because they were too drunk, and the same went for you sometimes! But on the other hand, you could talk to absolutely anyone without it being awkward or weird. If you went up and struck a conversation with someone on Frosh week it was A-OK! And regardless of the fact that everyone was drunk, I met my best friends from school during that week.
But back to the first morning: everyone was given a shirt and a package with the week's calendar from which you could pick the activities you wanted to do. The activities were fun and were worth doing in order to meet all sorts of people. When you go to university, you meet people from all over. Coast to coast, everywhere in between, and even a few foreign students. So during the first week of school, Intro week activities and memories are an easy conversation thread! It is amazing what booze and big groups of people can do together!
I did read about a few sessions that I wasn't sure I wanted to go to. For example, there was a Venus Sexuality and Sensuality course on the second day. I had heard it was funny so I went with my roommates. It was an hour long course on sex toys, what they were, how to use them. Eye opening. I think the university did it for shock value but it brought us first years closer through participating in the same shocking things. And I now know how to do bondage. But that's another story.
You do need to be careful during Intro week though. Everyone is in such high spirits that it is almost like everyone's supposedly-good decision-making skills go down the drain. You are just so excited about this new life you are about to start that you have no problem spending that extra twenty dollars or drinking another drink. During your first week everyone usually drinks more than they thought they ever could and spends more then they would ever have wanted to. Not to say I would take any of that back...
As I said, Intro week sure was interesting!
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