September has ended (cue Green Day) and by now most students have developed... some feelings (likely mixed) about their university experience, as well as some important insights.
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| Taylor Institute |
I'm putting mine to virtual paper to record them for myself as well as anyone else who may benefit from them :), please leave a comment if you have any of your own!
Put your class times and rooms in a calendar
The "Download Calendar" button in the UCalgary portal is a lifesaver for this. I was pretty confused and lost in my first days until I figured this out and imported all my class times to Outlook. It's always useful for scheduling any other activities so you don't have to think of conflicts in your head.
Bonus: Your calendar can probably send you a notification 15 minutes before your class in case you forgot about it.
Leave time for lunch
When I registered for my classes, I tried to leave a 1-2 hour gap around 1pm for lunchtime. I'm extremely happy I did that because it gives me a nice break between my classes as well as a well-needed meal and/or coffee break. You may be able to do without this if you pack a small lunch and have it between your classes, but I'm among those who enjoys a slow meal with friends.
Try to avoid late classes
I have a 5pm - 6:15pm lecture twice a week. It's an interesting/fun class so far which is why I didn't drop it (none of the other times fit in my schedule) but at a draining and inconvenient time, even though I live on residence. I don't think I would choose a similar class time again unless I really had to.
Adjacent classes might not be a bad thing
I avoided having adjacent classes because I was worried about being late and feeling burnt out from lectures. However especially at a not-huge university, 10-15 minutes is enough time to walk between classes when you know your way well. It doesn't burn you out much if you have different types of classes and don't overkill it, and you will have a more compressed and 'separated' day.
Get rid of your high school mindset
You don't need to ace your assignments to succeed in university. Almost every higher year student or graduate I've talked to said their biggest regret was not joining more clubs, and even one of my professors gave us a lecture on how your GPA usually doesn't matter much (unless you're going for graduate/law/medical school or other special programs). From what I've heard, it seems best to try to maintain a GPA of around 3.3 and spend time on things outside your classes.
Go to your office hours
Not only will make you more recognizable to your professor (which could be helpful if you decide to seek a research position), but they are genuinely extremely helpful if you have any questions and could boost your performance. Everybody has a different way of thinking which means there are concepts you will find more difficult to grasp than others, and 10 minutes of office hours usually can give you an a-ha moment with that concept.
I'm curious to hear about what other people have learned through their university experiences (good or bad) ;)
'Til next time,
Ana
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