University is a completely difference experience to what you will be used to from high school and college and other stages in your academic life. In both high school and college you would of completed the majority of your work within the actual school grounds where you could request extra support from teachers and friends. This however is not what happens in University and you will have to learn how to complete your work by yourself without it been fed to you by your teachers.
You will find that you will have to take lots of notes whilst in a lesson where the information is given to you. However notes is not all you will need. You will also have to complete your own section of research and therefore reading large amounts of material to get the information you need. Very minimal help will be given to you by your tutors and you will have to do the majority of work solo to complete your work. This is sadly where most people suffer because of the vast change to independent working. However you will have to get used to it as you have no choice and once you get used to the process it will be easy to adapt to that style of learning.
Should you need any help with work though do not be afraid to ask anyone you can. There are many people to ask and the best way to go about it is to ask your parents, family, friends, Google and then ask your tutor as they quite often help if it is needed at all.
Student Unions also exist which is well worth checking out. They offer a lot of information and support about the students life at University so it may be useful to go and check a union out that can support your needs and you can ask questions about social events, learning support and much more.
Motivation is another issue when in school as people tend to drop off learning – more so at University from what I have seen. At the stage of University I see many people bored of been stuck in education and instead just want to get out there and earn a living and possibly start their own family with mr/mrs right too. I know this happens a lot and you start to think about how many years you have been stuck ‘wasting time’ and learning. However you must keep going to get the information and the degrees you need to be able to do a lot better in your job role and have more chance of been successful in the path you want to take with your life.
Ask the readers
Something I like to do is have a final little question for all of the readers that feel they have something to say on the topic of the articles I write.
In University, how did you best study with everything else you had to do at the same time?
