By Simrin Sangha
The transition from high school to post-secondary education can be difficult and stressful for most students. The good thing is it doesn’t last and students are able to get through this new chapter and succeed in no time. Here are some insider tips from a student at Simon Fraser University on how to smoothly transition to post-secondary education.
One of the biggest changes from high school to post-secondary education is how large the campus and class sizes are. According to this student “due to large class sizes, students do not get much one-on-one time with their professors which was very different than my experience with my teachers in high school”. To help ease into this change, establishing a good network of peers within classes can help students keep up to date on class materials. This student also mentioned to take advantage of the professors office hours to get that one-on-one time and ask any questions that were not answered in class.
Growing up in a small town like Squamish, the second biggest challenge most students will face is having to move away from home to attend post secondary. We’ve all heard this whether it be from a sibling, friend or even our favourite TV show, leaving home and moving into a new space can be scary and lonely, especially the first few months of school. Having a support system can help students feel connected and ultimately help them make new friends and relationships. An easy example of this would be to join an on campus student club. This type of social balance can help a student thrive in their education.
Many students learn early that they must change how they study and prepare for exams and assignments. Thus this is the third challenge students will face. A valuable technique would be to review class material regularly. Daily review, “whether it be before class or after, studying regularly will help you have a better understanding of the topics you worked on in class as opposed to cram studying right before an exam”. This can help maintain better marks.
Lastly, time management. Once students are in the swing of things, it’s important to find time to do things that they love such as painting, drawing, and exercising, to help relieve the day to day stress that comes with school. “Finding a balance between school and personal life will definitely help students succeed better in all aspects of their life”.
These tips can help students in many different ways. There are many other obstacles and challenges that can arise in the first few months of post secondary education, however with time and a better understanding and using these tools will help students enjoy and succeed throughout their post secondary journey.