THE FRESHER'S GUIDE TO RETAINING SANITY

Photo: Darshan Chakma

Your first day as a freshman at your university will resemble your first day of school, though you may not remember it. A lot will be new and unfamiliar -- you will find yourself surrounded by strangers in a place you cannot seem to navigate on your own, praying for the day to end soon so you can go home. The key to surviving your first year at university lies in being organised and clear-headed, so we have a few points to help sort you out.

Utilise Social Media
Don't deny it -- you spend an unnecessarily large amount of time regularly on Facebook. Try and put that time to some good use; join existing groups of your university or department to get an idea of what the courses and instructors are like. Create new groups for your batch, if need be, so all the freshman students can interact and help one another with common problems. Be sure to 'Like' popular pages of your university, especially those which are related to your major or department, as they are usually managed by senior students or teachers who post useful updates on these pages. Browse the website of your university as well, and be on the lookout for notices. If possible print a copy of the academic calendar from the site, and anything else that might be useful.

Get Your Money's Worth
Our Universities have an intricately designed tuition fee prepared for us which very conveniently assumes that we utilise every single facility it has to offer. In that case, why not familiarise yourself with all the resources you're paying for? More or less every university has a library and the gift of “free” membership that comes with it. A lot of universities have free printing or photocopying facilities, free Wi-Fi and much more. Universities sometimes also offer a student e-mail account where all the information regarding make-up classes, university events, and upcoming holidays are posted. Sign up. There might be an entire free food week you're probably going to miss if you don't keep up!

Don't Overload Yourself
Some of you might be tempted to take on a heavy load of courses during your first year, thinking it will keep you focused and give you a head start so you can graduate early. However, your first year will be tiring enough on its own, without you burdening yourself with additional courses. The class hours are long, the assignments are much harder and lengthier than what you had in school, and just the format of the courses themselves need a while to get used to. You no longer get a year in which to study for exams that occur only once, rather you find yourself preparing for a quiz, presentation or midterm every other week for the entire course of your undergraduate program. Believe us when we say that you want to take it easy the first year; it'll let you gauge how much pressure you can handle. Pace yourself accordingly.

Photo: Darshan Chakma

Join a Club
One of the best things a university has to offer you, besides the newfound sense of freedom, is the choice of clubs. Whether it is a public or private university, these fun-filled clans are always ready to welcome all freshmen with an eager embrace (not literally). Aside from getting a place to loosen up during those long hours between classes, a club can teach you a lot about responsibility, time management and self-organisation. It will also allow you to explore your limits in juggling multiple tasks at a time and simultaneously will add weight to your resume, provided that you work for it. However, the most important thing is to find a club you can really connect with, or else, you'd be left with a lot of pending work, a lot of frustration and none of the fun.

Scout out Familiar Faces
If all of the points above make no sense whatsoever or achieving them makes you feel like you're going to be lost in the labyrinth of your campus all over again, you're going to have to find somebody to run you through it. Remember all those not-so-close classmates from school you had seen on the day of admission into the university? It's time to join forces with them. It is natural to presume they're going to be equally lost but at least you're going to have company through the whirlwind. If they're not so lost, your gain; you've just found yourself a navigator. In case you fail to find anybody from your batch, try to find out seniors from school, relatives or family friends who are studying at your university. They can be pretty reliable sources considering they've already run the maze you're about to run.
How you tackle your freshman year might well set the tone for the rest of the time you will spend at the university. We understand how difficult it can be to adjust to a new place, where everything is so strikingly different from what you've been used to. Even so, your years as an undergraduate student might be the best years of your life, and to get the most out of it, you need to take in everything your university has to offer.

Photo: Darshan Chakma