7 things I wish I had known as a freshman
Next year, I will complete my bachelor’s degree in business administration. During my studies I was able to gain a lot of experience, both positive and negative. So here are my top 7 things that I wish I had known as a freshman:
#1 Getting to know as many people as possible in the beginning
At my university, there are lots of introductory events at the beginning of the Bachelor’s program. However, since I found three fellow students relatively quickly with whom I got along well, I have not really taken advantage of the offers. I preferred to form deep friendships instead of many superficial ones.
The only problem was that two of my three new friends changed universities after the second semester and there were only two of us left. My case may be an exceptional situation, but it is relatively normal for people to specialize and go separate ways in the higher semesters. Therefore, I think it makes sense to get to know as many people as possible at the beginning, because then it’s still the easiest.
#2 Joining a student club
Another great way to meet new people even during the (Corona-) semester is to join a student club, or the student council. In Munich (where I study), for example, are the most diverse initiatives: capital market associations, student business consultancies, choruses, theater associations, debating societies, initiatives dealing with sustainability and climate change, and many more.
And hey, if you study at a university where nothing is going on, there is still the possibility to found your own club. Maybe there is a national umbrella organization that can help you with the establishment.
#3 Not everything the professor says is important
Okay, that’s obvious. But I had great difficulty at the beginning to differentiate what is important and what is not. So I rushed from one lecture and exercise to the next to prepare as well as possible. With the consequence that there was hardly any time to really reflect on the material and to understand it properly.
I changed my strategy and applied the Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule. Roughly speaking, this rule means that you can achieve 80% of the results with 20% of the total effort. Transferred to the university, I looked at old exams at the beginning of the semester and based on that decided which lectures or exercises I would go to. Since my math exam had almost no theory questions, but consisted mostly of practical exercises, I skipped the lecture completely and focused only on the exercises. The exam was a success.
#4 Doing the Right Things > Doing things right
= Effectiveness > Efficiency
It is so simple but often not applied in practice. Doing the right things is more important than doing things right.
At the beginning of my studies, I spent hours writing summaries. Not only did I want to summarize the study contents, everything should of course also look good. The consequence - in the end I had a super good-looking summary, but no time to learn the content.
Why is the evening before the exam the most productive for many students? Because they focus on the really important things and leave out all the unnecessary stuff. 80/20 rule.
#5 The study is an endurance run and not a sprint
It is normal for many students to have poor grades in the first semesters and improve significantly in the later semesters.
On the one hand, you have to get used to the new system. In many universities, there is no teacher to give you individual support and guide you when you have a down phase for a while.
On the other hand, there are many basic modules in the first semesters that were simply boring for me and had little (at most) practical relevance. I don’t know your study program and your university, but I can say from friends and acquaintances that almost every study program has these modules at the beginning.
So if you feel a bit disoriented at the beginning and then also have bad grades, don’t give up. More semesters will come. It is likely that learning will become easier and the subjects more exciting.
#6 Getting a mentor
During my studies, I had different mentors for different areas and I benefited tremendously from them.
A mentor can be a student who is already a few semesters ahead and can help you with the university. A mentor can also be a person who works in an industry that interests you.
Now it may be that your university doesn’t offer a mentoring-program, but that shouldn’t be a problem. Through associations, you can meet alumni and ask them personally if they want to give you career advice or other guidance. But you can also write to people proactively. You wouldn’t believe how many (famous) people respond to a letter or email.
#7 Gathering practical experience through student jobs and internships
For many, studying is a time when they really want to live and don’t think about the future. Many may simply not know what they really want, but how could they?
That’s why I think student jobs and internships are so important. For example, how can you know if you’re a good editor if you’ve never written an article? Many professions are portrayed in a distorted way to the outside world, for example by romanticizing them, but everyday life has little to do with this image.
There may be people who know from the beginning what they are meant for and then also find fulfillment in exactly this profession, but I consider the number of these people to be very small.
Me for instance, never found math and physics particularly exciting at school and the courses at university were also always rather boring for me. But when I got personally involved with stocks and joined a student association, I couldn’t stop being interested in the subject. If someone had told me three years ago that I was currently doing an internship in investment banking and was really enjoying the work, I wouldn’t have believed them.
All in all, I think studying should also be a time to live your life and try new things, so enjoy the time.
Best,
Sebastian
