Chapter 1: You and Your University Experience

Welcome to University!

Congratulations on your decision to attend university! For the great majority of university students, it really was your decision—not just an automatic thing to do. If you happen to be one of the few who just sort of ended up in university for want of anything better to do, the benefits of university will soon become obvious.

The reason for this book, and for almost all university courses, is that university requires commitment and effort. Like everything else in life that leads to meaningful results, success in university is not automatic. But when you apply yourself to your studies using the skills you’ll learn in this book, you’ll find you can succeed.

When asked, most students say they’re in university primarily for the job or career they expect to follow after university. And they are correct that university pays off enormously in terms of future earnings, job security and stability, and job satisfaction. Every statistic shows that people with a university education will make much more in their lifetime on average (much, much more than the cost of university itself) and be much happier with the work they do.

But job and career issues are only a part of the big picture. A university education results in many other personal benefits, and these also should be part of your motivation for doing well and continuing with your university plans. Here are a few additional, less tangible benefits of a university education:

• You will have a fuller life and a better understanding of the world around you.
• You will gain decision-making and problem-solving skills.
• You will meet many interesting and diverse people and have a richer social life.
• You will gain self-confidence.
• You will gain learning skills that can continue for a lifetime.
• You will make wiser decisions about lifestyle issues and live healthier.
• You will make wiser economic decisions the rest of your life.
• You will be better equipped to deal with other people, organizations, governmental agencies, and all the hassles of daily life.
• You will feel more fully a part of your community, the larger culture, and history.

A university education is correlated with greater success in all those areas, even though most students are usually more concerned with making it through the next class or test than the rest of their lives. But sometimes it helps to recall what a truly great step forward you are taking!

Sadly, however, it’s important to recognize that some students do not succeed in university and drop out within the first year. Sometimes it’s due to an unsolvable financial problem or a personal or family crisis, but the most likely reasons that a university student in Canada will drop out is an ineffective social network (not getting involved in extra-curricular and volunteering opportunities), a lack of academic abilities, and poor attitudes and habits towards post-secondary education ^[1].

A book like this one can help you stay motivated when things get tough, but it can’t necessarily give you motivation to start with. That’s part of what you yourself have to bring to university. What we can promise you is that you can learn the skills for succeeding in university.

Special skills are needed because university isn’t the same as high school. Throughout this book, we’ll be looking at the many ways university is different from high school. To name just a few, university is different in study skills needed, in personal skills related to being independent, in social skills for getting along with instructors and others on campus, in financial realities, in matters of personal health, and more.

Remember, you can learn whatever you need in order to succeed. That’s what this book is all about. You’ll learn how to get the most out of going to class. You’ll learn how to study in ways that use your time efficiently and help you pass tests. You’ll even learn how to remember what you read in your university textbooks. You’ll learn how to manage your time more effectively than you might have in the past, so that studying is less a burden and more a simple routine. You’ll even learn how things like eating well and getting enough sleep and exercise make it easier to do well in your classes.

One warning: you might not at first see an immediate payoff for everything you read in this book. When it comes to certain things, such as tips for how to take good notes in class to help you study later on for a test, you will get specific, practical advice you can put to use immediately to get a better grade. But not everything is as obvious or immediately beneficial. Some of the things you’ll read about here involve ideas you’ll need to think about. Some things will help you get to know yourself better and understand more clearly what you really want from your education and how to go about attaining them.

But we promise you this: if you care enough to want to succeed in university and care enough to read these chapters and try to use the information, suggestions, and tips presented here, you will succeed in university.