The first month of university absolutely flew by, and it taught me some valuable lessons about school. Being online in my first semester means that my first month was undoubtedly different than usual, but I’m sure many of you will still be able to relate to my experience.
- Those high school grades are a thing of the past.
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This one is probably the most obvious, but it’s also the hardest to come to terms with. I went into the semester thinking that I’d easily be able to keep up the grades I got in high school. Not the case. The UVic grading scale means anything above 80% is excellent work, and they don’t hand those grades out often. Being in the 60’s and 70’s means you’re doing well in a course, and once I learned that my grade shock faded. Of course, it’s going to take more than a month to come to terms with that new GPA, but I’m working on it.
- Profs are cool!
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I know, I know, I’m just as shocked as you are. Maybe it’s because they are teaching from home, or maybe I just got some great profs, but it feels like they are more personable than teachers were in high school. They talk about their lives, use personal experiences to illustrate concepts and speak to students as equals, rather than talking down like many high school teachers did. They are generally easygoing, and they do try to make the material as engaging as possible. I know this is a cliche, but it rings true: they are people too, just trying to get through the pandemic without losing their minds.
- Some people already know the material.
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In some of my classes it felt like I was behind the day that classes started, people already knew about complex concepts in my introductory classes. I was worried that there was an expectation that we had to be at a certain level to take these classes, and I wasn’t there. Turns out, that’s just how life works, sometimes people know things you don’t, and that’s fine. That’s why you’re at school, to learn more and be in their position one day. And even though they know more than you do, the course is still designed for students with no previous knowledge on the subject, so yes they’re ahead, but you aren’t behind.
- There are a ton of opportunities available, but they aren’t always easy to find.
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Universities are packed with clubs, student societies, services, and supports, but you aren’t automatically given all the information about them. Especially now that things are online, I had to do some social media stalking to find out about clubs and resources that were available to me. I’m glad I did, but if I hadn’t I wouldn’t have known about some great opportunities, they are easy to miss when you aren’t on campus.
As an extension of this, professors are there to help and reaching out never hurts. I was scared to get into contact at first, but there is no benefit to silently being lost among confusing content. Even if it’s just asking for clarification on expectations for an assignment, a little help never hurts!
- Weekly readings are killer.
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If you were to compare the time I spent reading in the months before school started to that first month, the line graph would be steeper than Everest. I was an avid reader when I was young, but nothing could have prepared me for reading a chapter a week in five different classes. It’s draining, but they don’t stop coming at you so you have to just keep plugging away.
- There will always be more work to do.
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This could just be an online school thing, but having all of your work available to you from day one means there’s always more work to do. I feel like I’m eternally at least a few days behind. Once I realized that that feeling is natural, I took some of the pressure off of myself. I told myself that taking an hour off wouldn’t put me any more behind than I already was, and being able to find a healthy balance between school and the rest of life is important.
A fun bonus thing I learned this September: Online school is rough.
But you didn’t need me to tell you that!
There is truly nothing that could have prepared me for the first month “on campus.” University is unlike anything I’ve experienced before, and the culture shock is real. Life is about growth though, and I’m excited to keep learning and growing over the next few years.