YouAlberta
After many long years of online school and hybrid classes, a fully in-person semester has started. It’s brought back both fond memories, along with those shoved so far back that I thought I’d never recall them again. Though I only had a semester and a half in person before the pandemic started, it was enough time to learn about the many ways in which the world of university is much different than the place where we had all been, high school. It’s almost enough to say that there was a sort of culture shock after making the switch to the world of academia.
Reflecting on my first year
Not only did it seem like people interacted differently with one another, but the workload was suddenly much heavier, assignments came at you all at once and group projects were much more stressful and suddenly had to be done on your own time. It seemed like you had to find a place to study, eat, and just fit in, all while classes were in entirely different buildings so spaced out that you’d have to run just to make it in time. And you didn’t even have a set schedule unless you made one for yourself! It was all so different.
The best way to put it is that you’re suddenly thrown into this world all by yourself, with far less supervision. So whether this be your first year in university, or your first year of entirely in-person class, how exactly do you get accustomed to this?
To shake hands, or not to shake hands?
I can recall from my first year that one of the biggest surprises I had was finding out people shook hands with each other upon meeting for the first time. The gesture seemed so formal that it caught me off guard. I remember the first time someone extended their hand out for me to shake, I can admitー I was confused. I’ll never forget how reluctantly I took their hand and how it quickly became the part I dreaded most when meeting someone. It was a weird type of hesitance, like it only added to the list of things to worry about. Is the other person going to shake my hand first, or should I offer? Is this the right time to shake their hand? What if my hand is clammy? I’ve been overthinking when to shake their handー if it wasn’t clammy before, it definitely is now. This is a tradition I’ve seen diminish almost entirely ever since COVID. People started offering elbow shakes, or nothing at all, in order to keep their distance. It was almost like a different time then, and a world it seems we will never entirely get back.
Getting around campus
The university campus is big, and when you’re new and as directionally challenged as I am, it feels like all the buildings loom over you, and everything starts to look the same. This can make it harder to find your classes on time, cause you to be late, and it gets very overwhelming. I’ve been there, done that. In fact. I’m still trying to figure out where certain buildings are from different points on campus. You think you have it all figured out, and suddenly your friends want to hang out at CAB and you need to figure out how to get to Tory without using the pedway in HUB. It’s even worse when you have back-to-back classes and only 10 minutes to get to your next class, leaving virtually no time to get lost. One thing I started doing to avoid this was casually studying in random spots around campus, allowing myself not only to get accustomed to different areas, but also forcing myself to navigate. You’d be surprised how many shortcuts you manage to find!
Joining clubs
One of the other blessings of university life is simply the number of clubs that are available to join. This is especially handy for introverts (like me) who have a harder time just turning to people and making friends in classes. There is quite literally an organization or student group for absolutely everything. No one's interest is going to be left behind. As a first year, you’ve probably heard this a million times: join a club! When I was in high school, extracurriculars and clubs were the last thing I wanted to do, and since coming to university, I have gotten involved in more than I can count on my fingers. It’s probably one of the best things you can do for yourself. And for those of you that had bad experiences with high school clubs, they are nothing alike! It’s a great place to meet new people, and probably those with similar interests.
Take advantage of your mornings
When it comes to scheduling, I am probably the worst. If I have nowhere to be, I will not get out of bed, and this of course is very detrimental and causes you to fall behind in assignments. It’s hard when nothing is stopping you from avoiding morning classes and starting your day at 2 pm. I’ve started forcing myself to take at least one morning class a semester. Along with this, setting a consistent wake up time every morning helps a lot in allowing your body to adjust and be ready for a new day. Set aside time to study and meet with friends - both are equally as important!
Get out there!
The best piece of advice I can offer is to get out there! Again, this is something everyone says, but these few years go by so quickly, especially once you start getting involved in everything around you! So much time has already been spent in quarantine, so make the most of the time you have now!
