Hi!
I had some questions regarding 1st year uni. I'm finding the transition between high school and uni quite tough. My first question is how did you manage to do all your assignments, practice, tute Qs, reading and summaries and still have time to go out with your mates or just generally enjoy yourself. I find myself in one room for days upon days, just studying for uni (and I'm only in my first semester!)
Secondly, how do you deal with bad tutors? My tutors are so bad. They dont help us and just show us answers to the questions. I'm really struggling and have my Mid-Sems soon. Any other advice?
btw, what uni did you go to ?
Tysm
Hey AHaiderS!
Welcome to ATAR Notes.
Very many apologies for the late response - I have no idea how, but I missed this one until now!
I'm finding the transition between high school and uni quite tough.Feels - so did I. I'm sorry to hear that, though. No need to go into too much detail if you don't want to, but what are you finding tough about it? From your subsequent questions, is it trying to find the balance between work and other stuff? What are you studying?
My first question is how did you manage to do all your assignments, practice, tute Qs, reading and summaries and still have time to go out with your mates or just generally enjoy yourself. I find myself in one room for days upon days, just studying for uni (and I'm only in my first semester!) A good question, and one I had to think about for a few minutes. I think what benefitted me is a "work now, play later" sort of approach. I'd try to get a start on things
early so that I could chill/go out or whatever later on, and with no guilt. Like, consider these two scnearios. In both situations, you've just been given an assignment due in two weeks from now.
Scenario 1: For the first week, you decide to rest, and chill. Maybe you watch some Netflix. Maybe you go clubbing. Maybe you have some nice picnics on the beach. They're all fantastic things to do, and I'm the first to say that taking breaks is absolutely necessary to doing well long-term. BUT, you don't genuinely, 100% enjoy any of those activities. Why? Because you know you have that assignment due soon - and you haven't even
started it. Whilst you get some enjoyment out of Netflix and clubbing and the beach, there's that nagging voice in the back of your head at all times, saying "uni, uni, uni". And you feel a bit guilty or stressed or whatever else as a result. So the first week passes, and you're already a bit stressed about uni despite having done absolutely nothing on your assignment. When you sit down to get moving on it, you realise that now you only have
one week until it's due, so you've practically just doubled the difficulty of the task for yourself. As a result, you're even more stressed. As the deadline looms closer and closer, you start to panic a bit, lose sleep, don't eat as well - all that nasty sort of stuff. You might realise you realistically need more than the week you've given yourself to complete the task to a high standard. You manage to submit the assignment on time, but you haven't edited it properly, and don't do as well as you could have as a result. Basically what's happened is:
* You've spent time with your friends/"relaxing" etc., but it wasn't actually that relaxing because you were sort of thinking about uni the whole time.
* You've given yourself less potential time on your assignments, which is practically throwing away marks.
* You've probably tired yourself out as a result of stress and subsequent lack of sleep etc.
* You've completed the work, but not to as high a standard as you could have.
Really, it seems like a lose/lose situation.
Scenario 2: Comparatively, let's say you decide to get cracking on the assignment straight away. You work consistently for the first few days, just chipping away at what you know you need to get done within the next two weeks. Ideally, you'll finish the assignment after like a week, and subsequently have a full week to chill
guilt free. But let's say it takes you longer than expected, and you finish the assignment in 10 days. My first point here is that
this is okay, because starting early gave yourself the required buffer period. If you cut it fine and then realise you don't have enough time, well, that sucks! But if you start early and make that same realisation, you have enough flexibility to do something about it. So you get the assignment done in 10 days. I'd wager the assignment is to a much higher standard than in Scenario 1, because you've given yourself more time to read over it etc.,
and because you're not working on it stressed and sleep-deprived. Following that, you have four days to
genuinely relax and recuperate. Yeah, you have fewer days "relaxing" than you did in Scenario 1, but the quality is higher - you don't have that nagging voice in the back of your head, and that makes a big difference. If we were to award arbitrary points to "total relaxation" in both scenarios, Scenario 2 would surely be higher. So:
* You've spent some great quality time relaxing/recuperating.
* You've given yourself a buffer period, allowing for revisions to your assignment without much stress.
* You've slept better than in Scenario 1, as there's no need to pull all-nighters etc.
* You've completed the work to a higher standard than in Scenario 1.
This time, it really seems like a win/win situation.
That's all dramatised a bit, but honestly I don't think it's too far off the mark - particularly when you consider that that's just
one assignment, when in reality you'd probably have several more at any given time. I think a lot of people at uni adopt the first approach, whether consciously or otherwise. I was very much a Scenario 2 sort of person (I think natural anxiety rendered me really keen to get stuff done as soon as possible; I don't like having things having over my head), and it paid off for me. So to answer your question, this approach is probably how I managed to find that balance.
(And keep in mind that what I did at uni was certainly not perfect. It's a constant battle to find that balance - it's hard - but this is what has worked for me to this point.)
Secondly, how do you deal with bad tutors? My tutors are so bad. They dont help us and just show us answers to the questions. I'm really struggling and have my Mid-Sems soon. Any other advice?Number one thing to remember: the tutors will be temporary. As with I assume anybody at uni, I really loved some of my tutors, and didn't love others so much - that's natural. I'm not sure what you study or if this would be appropriate in your specific situation, but have you tried asking them for additional assistance, or raising your concerns (respectfully)? I don't think this is particularly helpful advice, but it's probably the first step as I see it.
If you've tried that, I'm not sure how much you
can do, really. But in saying that, uni's a really great time to learn skills to deal with this sort of situation, namely independence and resilience. What could you do yourself (that is, not depending on the tutor) to give yourself the best possible chance of learning the content? Obviously it's not an ideal outcome, but it's not an uncommon one.
btw, what uni did you go to ?Monash University in Melbourne.
Sorry again for the late response. Good luck for your mid-sems!