Things I wish I knew before starting at Western
Written by: Rainy Lu, 2nd Year Medical Science
Entering university is a milestone for many of us. The start of this new chapter is both exciting and, inevitably, stressful. It seems like yesterday that I was wandering around campus and trying to figure out how to make my life thrive in this new environment with these new people. Looking back, there were definitely mistakes I could have avoided during my first year. While that is how life works, my experience can offer valuable lessons to help others have a smooth transition. In this blog post, I will share some things I wish I knew before starting at Western and classify them into four categories: Academics, Extracurriculars, Social Life, and Wellness.
Academics
It is OKAY to drop a class – While overcoming challenges is a critical part of our lives, there is no reason to make your life harder when you already have many things on your plate. It is normal in university to show up to a couple of lectures and realize it is unreasonable for you to manage the workload or you don't have interest in a course. If the course is not required for your program, drop it! You do not want to mess up your entire semester because of one course. In my first year, there was a course I knew I would not enjoy, but I was afraid to drop it. While I ended up with a decent grade in the course, the workload and content were exhausting and consumed most of my energy for the semester. I was unable to focus on courses required for my program. I also had a painful experience working on the assignment for the course because I was not interested in the content. It is probably clear from my experience that you should not risk your overall well-being by sticking with a course that you know you will not enjoy. There is also less impact on your record if you drop a class early (check the academic calendar). Even if you drop a course later than the first deadline, as long as it is before the academic penalty deadline, it would only show as a W on your transcript. One or two withdrawals will not impact your career, as companies and professional schools understand that sometimes courses do not turn out to be what we had hoped.
Have backups for your classes - As discussed above, you might realize after a couple of lectures that you do not wish to be in the course. However, there are credit requirements per semester for most programs. It would be useful to have some backups in mind, especially for your elective and winter term courses, because you have time to adjust. If you do not end up switching courses, you can always save the courses for the summer or next year.
Consider taking morning classes – We all know that it is awful to drag yourself out of bed to a morning class, but it also means that you can end the day early and have free time in the afternoon and evenings. I absolutely did not want to take any morning classes during my first year, but course selection appointments betrayed my original plan. I had to take 8:30 AM classes for both semesters. Surprisingly, the schedule worked out well! Many club activities and social events take place during weekday evenings, so I did not miss out on any opportunities.
Go to Office Hours – Office hours exist for a reason! They're there for you to use them. During my first year, I found office hours to be helpful as they are basically lectures focused specifically on challenging topics with a smaller group of students. If you are ever struggling with the material, get help from your professor during office hours. I would even go to office hours when I did not have specific questions but just feel like I did not understand the lecture material very well. Listening to other people’s questions and explanations and from the professor is a great way to build your understanding.
Extracurriculars
Use a to-do list – There are a variety of tools available for digital planning, and you can absolutely use any tool that you want. The important thing is to avoid relying on your memory, especially when you are busy with everything else that is going on in your university life. During my first year, I used a to-do list for almost everything, but when I occasionally forgot to add an event, I was most likely to forget it. When you have your syllabus for different courses, it can also be useful to enter all the deadlines of assignments and test dates into your to-do list. With the to-do list, you will not have to open the document every time you forget the due date.
Avoid unreasonably high expectations for what you can accomplish in a day – This is probably one of the biggest lessons I learned from my first year at Western. It is almost always better to have fewer tasks on your to-do list because you can feel upset when you cannot complete everything. Alternatively, if you finish all the tasks and complete something you planned for tomorrow, you will feel accomplished and satisfied. Self-awareness is important for planning your schedule, and we have to be realistic about ourselves.
Sign up for any clubs that you are interested in - It does not hurt you in any way to join the email list for each club that sounds remotely interesting to you. You can always decide later whether you have an interest in that activity or are free when meetings are held.
Social Life
Take advantage of the first few weeks – Not everyone is a social person, but if you are looking for new friends, the start of the semester is the time. It is okay to start conversations with random people you meet in the dining hall, orientation week, or classroom, because everyone is looking for some new friends too. You can ask for their socials and invite them to join you the next time.
Talk to your soph – I am somehow biased because my sophs were amazing people who supported me throughout the first year. Nonetheless, sophs are likely the first group of people you meet on campus whose main goal is to help you with transition into university life. You can rely on your sophs for information related to courses, clubs, and university life in general. They are all super supportive and nice to talk to!
It’s perfectly okay to be alone – By all means, no one will judge you for being alone. It is normal to eat alone in the dining hall or walk to class by yourself. Spending time with yourself is also great for personal growth, as it is important to know how to deal with the person you will spend the rest of your life with.
Wellness
Get enough sleep – I know this is a cliché, but sleep has a surprisingly significant impact on your mental and physical health. Your health should always be your priority because it will benefit you throughout your life and also lead to better academic performance. When you are sleep-deprived, like I was for a couple of my first-year exams, it is easy to make mistakes on things you know (which happened to me too many times) and mess up challenging concepts. There is always the incentive to pull all-nighters, but the lesson I learned is that getting adequate sleep is the best way to succeed.
Make your mental health a priority – This is another cliché, but you do not ever want to experience burnout. You should have a couple of routines that help you relax and take breaks from work, school, and extracurriculars. It can be listening to music, talking with friends and family, or doing another activity that soothes you. Western also provides mental health support services if you ever need external support.
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