Entering into a university? What a happy moment for you and your parents! All the hard work at your secondary school and junior college days had paid off! You are excited, joyous and are looking forward to the university life.
You may or may not be expecting the many changes that are coming your way. Most of you are likely to be living on campus. This may be the first time you are leaving home and sharing a room with another person who may be a complete stranger and may be from a different culture.
Your success in university depends greatly on how well you adjust to the changes you find in this environment. The experience of the transition may be different for each of you, some may have an easier time, while others may find it very challenging.
Use these TIPS to help you:
a. Attend the orientation programmes organised by your school and hall. You will receive vital information about your course, university procedures and resources. Most importantly, you get to make friends with other freshmen and seniors.
b. Join co-curricular activities (CCAs) to get to know more people. These activities and settings are more conducive for making friends compared to a huge lecture theatre where students may be rushing from one lecture to another.
c. Be patient while you are adjusting to university life. You may feel lonely and find it difficult to develop close friendships. Do not let others' seemingly "well adjustment" deceives you as it is likely that many are also grappling with the same problems. Remind yourself that friendships take time and require more effort on your part because you have less contact time with your coursemates.
d. Learn to prioritise - manage your long-term goal and short-term "wants". University is an adult learning environment where your attendance and academic progress is not closely monitored by a teacher as in your junior college or high school. Students are expected to be autonomous and assume responsibilities for the choices made.
e. Manage your time well. Study is more demanding even though you may have fewer classes than in your junior college. You are expected to do more self study outside the classes and study more consistently. (See Time Management and Time Management Tips.)
f. Use positive coping strategies to manage stress. You can get stressed out by the demands of your course - quizzes, projects and exams. Physical exercises and relaxation exercises (see Brief Relaxation Techniques) are excellent ways to reduce stress.
g. Pay attention to the course outline and course expectation given by your lecturer. You have to find out how you will be graded and monitor your own progress as well as keep up with your reading assignments.
h. Know what plagiarism is and the importance of acknowledging the source of information in your assignments. Previously, you may be allowed to copy the whole paragraphs or sentences from books/articles. Some of you may even memorise them. However, this is viewed seriously and not condoned in the university.
i. Learn to manage your emotions and expectations. University is a very competitive environment. In addition, you are going through a life stage where many of you are developing an intimate relationship with a partner. There may be rough times when you feel down, lonely or disappointed. It is crucial that you manage these emotions so that they do not adversely affect your focus on study especially during the examination period.
j. Learn to communicate and negotiate with your roommate if you are staying in a Hall of Residence. It is important to discuss and negotiate key issues as early as possible with your roommate. Examples of some of these issues are the use of personal property and space, housekeeping, guest visiting hours, sleep and relaxation. See Living with a Roommate.
k. Be aware of any physical, emotional and behavioural changes in you especially if these changes interfere with your daily functioning or your studies. See Stress, Anxiety and Depression for the examples of such changes and how to deal with them.
l. Familiarise and make use of NTU resources to help yourself. For academic matters, see the Assistant Chair (Student Affairs), your Academic Mentor, lecturers or tutors. For other issues, you can see a Hall Fellow (for a hall resident), or a Student Counsellor at the Student Counselling Centre.
If you are having problems with adjustment, consider seeing a counsellor at the NTU Student Counselling Centre. To make an appointment, contact the Counselling Centre at 67904462 or email SCC@ntu.edu.sg.
