How I went from failing classes to being elected SU President.
My rewarding journey as an Arts student.
My name is Reed Larsen, and I am in my eighth year of my undergrad at the University of Alberta. I am many other things besides an undergraduate; I am an entrepreneur, consultant, partner, traveler, artist, photographer, and activist. However, being an undergrad at the U of A has been central to my identity for nearly a decade.
My journey has taken this long because it hasn’t been a smooth one, and I have had almost every experience an undergraduate could have. I started by surviving on Domino’s pizza, drinking lots of beer, exclusively playing video games, failing courses and changing majors three times.
I went on to join clubs, organize events, be selected for the leadership college, sit on the U of A Senate and Board of Governors, and be elected the President of the Students’ Union.
Although I have enjoyed success as a student, post-secondary has been a struggle for me, particularly at the start. And I believe university is challenging for many others as well.
To hopefully make that journey a bit more smooth (and probably quite a bit shorter) for you, I have some advice:
1. Go to class more than you study, study more than you party, and party as much as you can.
For many, this will be the first time you have to hold yourself to account. Make going to class a part of your identity; you go if you are tired, you go if its -30 degrees, you go if you have to miss a special event, you go to class. I would argue that anyone can pass any class if they attend every single one, pay attention, and take notes.
More over, spend extra time every single day studying for your classes. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, review some material from every single class every single day. If you have a hard time with a class, you are going to have to brunt force it, and hard work always trumps talent.
Finally, party as much as you can. For me, knowing how to throw a good party ended up being half the point of getting an education, and it has served me immensely well.
Further, when I say party, I mean party in your way. The best partier I ever met was a devote Muslim, slammed water shots all day, had the most fantastic time, and was an exemplary leader.
Also remember, three is a party. If a party for you is baking some awesome cookies, bake as often as you can and have at least two other people with you. Make it your mission to throw the most outrageous baking party.
The people you choose to spend time with outside of class will be those that you forge stronger friendships with, and the people you choose to party with will become part of the foundation of who you are.
2. Unabashedly use the services available to you.
It took me years to realize you have to be willing to just throw your pride out the window and use all the services the U of A offers.
Having trouble writing an essay, go to the Centre for Writers. Feeling ill, go to the health clinic. Need help with research, go to a librarian. Want to launch a business, go to an incubator. Have an idea for a club, apply for funding. Low on funds, use the Campus Food Bank.
You can literally create or learn anything; you have access to many of the world’s leading labs, maker spaces, libraries, and many other services if you simply seek them out and ask for them.
The trick is, you have to take the initiative to speak to someone and seek out that help. Do your best to physically go to the spaces and talk to real people. Once they see you, and know you, all these people will want to help you. They will go the extra mile if you ask for it, because they want to see you succeed in anything you want to do.
Using these services will make your study more comfortable and even give you an edge when starting a career outside the U of A. In any case, use them because you will not have these opportunities again, as most of these services do not exist in public.
3. Embrace your passions and show up to support them.
To start, write down your passions and have a plan to spend more time doing them. By writing this down you create a structure, and you will find yourself automatically pursuing your passions.
If you are lucky, you are already studying something you love, and your plan becomes spending more time studying. For many, you are likely to research something you are interested in, but also have other passions. For example, you are studying anthropology, however, you are most interested in photography, and anthropology is a path to supporting and researching that photographic passion.
In this scenario, embrace that passion; seek out a photography group, show up to their events, and support their work. The key is, you have to actually show up.
The secret of the leadership team (for any group) is that they are the ones to show up consistently, do the work, and apply themselves. If you say you are going to go to an event, even just a “going” on Facebook, make sure you get there and arrive on time.
Leadership and pursuing your passions starts with writing down your plan, doing what you say you are going to do, and simply showing up. All said and told, if you show up more often, you have more chances to seize opportunities, and maybe pursue your passion for life.
From the example above, perhaps that person goes on to have a job as a cultural photographer for a research group because they showed up to a photography event at which a professor was showcasing some work. That marriage between anthropology and photography wouldn’t be possible without showing up, and now a person gets to pursue a passion for life.
So remember:
1. Go to class more than you study, study more than you party, and party as much as you can.
2. Unabashedly use the services available to you.
3. Embrace your passions and show up to support them.
I hope these three pieces of advice help you along your journey in the Faculty of Arts at the U of A. I know it took me nearly a decade to get close to figuring it out and soon I’ll be celebrating graduation. What I know for sure is that if I can find success here, virtually anyone can. Finally, I am still an unabashed supporter of post-secondary education, and if you ever want to chat, I am happy to party with you. Cheers!
Author bio: Reed Larsen, ’19 BA (Political Science major). Peter Lougheed Leadership College Scholar. U of A Students’ Union President 2018/19.
