What’s it like when you go to college or university?

What’s it like when you go to college or university?

When you’re in high school, there’s nothing you want more than to step out into a world where you can stroll around in jeans and a t-shirt on campus all day.

But what’s it really like once you get over the fact that you’re no longer a school learner?

Here are some tips on what you can expect studying at college or university to be like:

• There’s a lot more work to get through. The amount of content you have to cover in class AND in your own time is a chunk more than what you had to cope with at school. It’s important to use your time wisely. Get a diary and block off your lectures as well as study periods and then some leisure time. Be strict with your time, don’t let your friends derail your schedule.
• You get to call the shots! Lectures happen – whether you sit in on them is totally your call. If you decide to write a book while the lecture’s happening, that’s also your call. Nobody is going to chase you to be in class or to study. While this may seem like fun, you have to be serious about your studies, otherwise you’ll fail!
• Get it? If you don’t understand the work, you have to ask questions and read up on the work after class. It’s your job to pass, not the lecturer’s job to make sure you pass. In school, it’s in the school’s interest for the teachers to push you as hard as possible so that they can improve their matric pass rates but in college or university, there’s no skin off their noses if you fail.
• It’s on your time and pocket! If you fail a module, you have to rewrite – this means more time and more money you have to spend on your studies and on your living expenses while not earning a real income yet. You delay life for YOU!
• Buddy time! Life seems to revolve around your buddies after school. What are they doing, what are they saying on social media, where are they going, etc? Don’t get hooked up with the wrong crowd because years later you’ll wonder why you never finished your degree or why you got such low marks when you could have done better. It’s okay to have fun but never forget why you’re there – to get an education so you can get a good life!
• Navigate your own way in life: In school. You got a lot of guidance, especially in LO, on careers, where to go and study and generally how to navigate life as a teenager. But when you get to college and university, that stops. You’re expected to navigate life on your own, so thankfully you have evenme.co.za to help you figure it all out!

These are some of the differences you can expect when you go study after school. Have fun, you’ll never experience that kind of life again after you start working but make the most of it – make it count!