Everything I Wish I knew in My First Year From My Fourth Year Self

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wilfrid Laurier chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

Personally, I think that every year of university is really different, and I think I have been a completely different person in each year. Looking back on my first year as the person I am today in my fourth year, there are tons of things that I wish I could have told myself, here are my 8 favourites. 

1. You Need to Do Things by Yourself

Don’t wait for someone else. Don’t put off joining clubs or going to campus or even heading to the dining hall because you are scared to go alone. My biggest regret from my first year is missing opportunities to meet people or find things I cared about because I didn’t want to stray from the group of people I was hanging out with. Doing things alone is big and scary but don’t not do it just because you’re scared. 

2. Don’t Shut Yourself Off from Making New Friends 

In my first year I fell victim to the very common trope of meeting a group of people in my residence building and becoming so close so quickly that I unintentionally blocked myself off from making new friends from outside the group. Don’t get me wrong I had so much fun with that group of people, but I completely limited my social circle. In my second and third years I bounced back a bit and became more outgoing and I got to meet and get close to a ton of different people, but I wish I had given myself a chance to meet people like that in the first year. 

3. Seriously Look at Your Degree Audit 

For those of you who don’t know, degree audit is a Laurier platform you can access online that shows all your program requirements, specialty requirements, course completion, grades and a ton of other things that are central for you to graduate. Seriously look at it. I wish I had paid more attention to that at the start of my degree because it would have saved me a ton of time and stress. 

4. Go to Office Hours 

Your professors are not as scary as you think they are. They really like talking to students and getting to know them. Take the opportunity to do so. Whether you need help with a specific assignment or you’re stressed with your workload or if you’re considering a post grad program, your professors are a really good resource. A ton of professors teach multiple courses within their faculty which means you’ll likely have your professors’ multiple times within your degree, take the opportunity to get to know them now, it could really pay off in the future.

5. Not All First Year Friends Will Be Fourth Year Friends, That’s Ok 

I made the kind of friends in my first year that I thought I would know for the rest of my life. These were the kinds of people I imagined in the crowd at my wedding or babysitting my kids. You can probably already tell though, that’s not going to be happening. And that’s ok. You grow throughout university and sometimes those people who you love so much don’t grow with you. That’s ok. Don’t hold on to friendships or relationships that aren’t for you. Holding on too tight when things aren’t right won’t do anything but drag it out. I give you permission to pick the people who are right for you. I give you permission to move on if you need too. 

6. Find Things That You Are Really Passionate About 

There are so many clubs and teams and associations at Laurier, find one that you are really passionate about and go all in. For me that was working with Laurier Varsity Athletics. It’s doing a job I love and spending time with people who I really mesh with. For you that could be the drum line, or the indigenous student association or the first-year leadership program. Find something you love and really really do it. 

7. Take Classes You Are Actually Interested In, You’ll Do Better

In my first year I had a ton of electives, and I didn’t know what to take so instead of looking too closely at any additional courses I took whatever classes my friends were in. I didn’t care about those courses, and I didn’t need them and as you can probably guess I didn’t do very well in a lot of them. In upper years I got into more classes that directly connected to my program and what I wanted to do and all of a sudden, I was a really good student. I wish so much that I could have started in those types of courses and avoided the stress of taking classes that I hated because being in classes with my friends didn’t do anything except drag down my gpa and stress me out. 

8. There is Nothing Wrong with Going Home for the Weekend 

I felt like there was so much going on in the first year that I didn’t want to miss a thing. Because of this I barely went home, and I was sick and run down for probably half the year. I needed a break and a reset, and it would have done wonders for my physical and mental health if I would have just taken them. 

If I were to give any extra pieces of wisdom to any first years it would probably be this… Take all the chances. Do all the fun stuff. Take up all space. Do things even if you’re scared or alone.  Make the most out of the time you have in university because it really is great to be a Laurier Golden Hawk.