Last column of the summer, folks. This time next week I will be getting all orientated with the University of Regina's journalism program. Probably at around this time too, since nothing says "fun day at school!" like 8:30 a.m. classes with mandatory attendance.
It's going away to school that is the topic of this week's column. I've been chatting with a few recent grads, including my own sister, Kendelle, and many of them seem to be viewing the school year with a mix of excitement, horror, fear and hope.
Ah, to be young again. I remember my first year being shipped off to college. Now, in my day, university wasn't just a few miles down the road. It was way down in the Midwestern United States, and travelling there required planning, preparation, and climbing a hill both ways.
Or something to that effect.
I like to think that my two years of education have taught me a thing or two about university, and I'm going to share the most valuable of lessons with you.
1) You aren't smarter than your professors. This may seem pretty obvious, but I know this from experience. Both of my English professors in my first year loved my writing style and were ridiculously happy with everything I turned in. When I transferred to Regina last fall, I was pretty confident that there was very little my newest English prof had to teach me, because, after all, I'd already taken all of it. So imagine my surprise when I was barely passing the class at midterm. You may (or likely may not) be shocked to know that I had stubbornly been refusing to change my writing style to suit the new professor, because I already knew I was doing it right. It took a complete shift in attitude and a lot of rewritten essays before I achieved a decent mark in the class. Learn from my mistake and acknowledge that your professors may actually know more than you.
2) If you're on Facebook in class, you probably aren't learning anything. My first semester in Regina I spent most of my classes on my laptop. I was pretending to take detailed notes, but I was secretly stalking randoms on Facebook. Maybe reading a blog or two. Checking out Texts From Last Night. Definitely not listening to my political science professor's lecture on government systems. Thankfully I was able to understand the subject by reading the class notes and textbooks before the final, but I definitely would have saved myself a lot of time by just paying attention in class. Second semester, taking another political science class from the same professor, I elected to leave my laptop at home and actually take notes during the lecture. My grade improved 10 per cent.
3) Go to first-year orientation and live in a dorm. I'm sure that every university-bound student has heard this before, but it's worth repeating. Living in a dorm immediately introduces you to potential friends, or at least acquaintances who may know of social events and/or offer to drive you places. This is the same for freshmen orientation. Yes, hopping on one foot while holding an egg on a spoon in your mouth is not a life skill, but if you're doing it as part of a relay race, it is socially acceptable and highly recommended. Orientation gets you talking to people and finding common interests. A little fun fact: the first person I spoke to during freshmen week also lived in my dorm hallway and is still one of my best friends. It's worth going outside of your comfort zone and meeting new people, trust me.
4) Your long-distance relationship is unlikely to work. Case study: the first day of school, six girls living in my hallway had "serious" boyfriends. By the end of the first month, that number had changed to two. Today, only one of those relationships is still going strong. I'm not saying that you need to dump your high school girlfriend because you're heading off to university. I'm just saying to keep it in perspective that chances are good that you're going to grow apart, meet new people, and find out that everything you loved about each other is suddenly super annoying and drives you mental over Skype conversations. Maybe. Not that I know that from experience.
I could go on about this all day, but my weekly procrastination has left me with a lot to do this morning. Good luck, new students. Enjoy the next few years because they're awesome. You're going to grow up and learn so much about yourselves. Your family and good friends will always support you, unless you flunk out of school and start robbing banks for fun. Then you're on your own.
Tonaya is no longer working at the Mercury office because she is going to university. However, she can still be reached at [email protected], where she will be happy to answer all of your questions about university and life in general. Thanks for another great summer, Estevan. See you around.
