How to approach your time at university
It’s no longer (only) about the score: In Australia, as I’m sure in other countries, the last year of high school is very competitive. Kids want to get the highest score possible to enter the best university. While your grades & average score are still very important in university, it’s also not the end goal. Many large companies might have the flexibility to choose one candidate over another, based on score. However as the point of university is to find a job after graduating, skills such as time management, networking, reliability & business savvy are also extremely important.
Find something you love to do: Now that you’re in university, you will be exposed to a whole lot of things you may never knew existed before. Sports like Quidditch, clubs focussed on politics or social entrepreneurship are only some outlets that can ignite your passion. It’s important to have a passion, it keeps you busy & helps clear your mind when university gets tough. However, if you get engaged in your passion enough you might actually be able to find a space where things can be improved. This can be the catalyst for employment or starting a business.
Do it by numbers: Here are 2 phrases (one from my high school years & another from my university years) that I absolutely hated hearing!
- ‘VCE (the final year exams + certificate) is just a game. You need to be able to play by the rules, to get the right scores.’
- ‘I never studied hard in university, I studied smart.’
Why did I hate these? I felt that they were patronising & made small of my experiences at the time. However looking back on it now, I see the wisdom & I would like to mould those two sayings into some advice for university students now. Keep playing the game! Figure out what works best for you and run with it; study times, preferred methods of learning, etc. Identify the areas you need to focus on & the ones that don’t necessarily need your focus. What parts of the lectures are the most vital? Will knowing about industrial applications help me on my exam or is this just content filler? If my assignment is worth 60% how much of my time & effort over the next 3 weeks does that equate to? Study examples & past exam questions as in some subjects they don’t necessarily change too much.
Have an end goal: I might have already hinted at this, but university isn’t the end goal. Even if you’re committed to becoming a researcher or professor, your undergraduate years are not the end goal. I have found many students (including myself) get stuck for years at university, always busy studying but never really moving anywhere. Having an end goal will help steer you through the endless amounts of lectures, quizzes & assignments. You don’t have to be set on your goal & your experience in university will definitely change & develop it, but you need to have one!
