First Year Experience Series Part Six: Sabrina

By SABRINA BRADEY, MACINSIDERS

First year is often a huge change for students. I was no exception.To be honest, my first day here at Mac was miserable. It poured during my move in day, I cried when my parents left me, my new room mate moved her stuff in and then left for hours with her parents (not that I can blame her really) and the only two other people that I knew at Mac were no where to be found. I was wet and lonely and suddenly very apprehensive about school. I had been so excited to come to Mac, excited for my residence Edwards Hall because it had been my first choice, so this wet first day was quite the let down.

After my parents had left me to the screaming people in pink jumpsuits and I made my way to my new home. I got my room organized, unpacked and set up my laptop and internet connection. After figuring out how to set up my answering machine I had run out of things to do. So I ventured outside my room and started walking around my floor. I didn't get far when I met an open door and a young man who was laying a VERY brightly coloured blanket on his bed. Who would have thought that a conversation starter would be someone's blanket? He invited me into his room and told me about how the blanket was from El Salvador where he had spent the summer. We shared stories of where we came from, he showed me pictures of his summer and the girlfriend he had left behind. At that point another soon to be friend knocked on his door, she had a large mug of Jelly Beans which was an instant hit with the floor. Within minutes there were at least 10 first years and our HCA (House Community Advisor) sitting in the hallway passing around the mug and talking about everything and anything. Our HCA was full of tidbits of knowledge about campus and student life, the do's and do not's, what to expect from classes and lectures etc.

Welcome Week was crazy fun. I’ll admit I was apprehensive about the pink t-shirt business because I despise the colour pink but after seeing so many other students in their Edwards shirts I decided to put my pink hatred on the shelf for one week and wear the shirt. It’s easier to follow along with the cheers that your reps are teaching you when you’re surrounded by a hundred other students who are all doing it too. You’re united in the fact that you’re wearing colours you probably don’t normally like, you’re acting like a goof and screaming cheers usually reserved for camp and there are people in coloured/painted jump suits being stupider than you feel (A tip for your Welcome Week shirt: wear something light under it that way the shirt doesn't start to smell the second day, cause your reps will make you wear it). Before I knew it, classes had started and so the ritual of waking my room mate up (who always slept through her alarm) started and the work began.

The work was hard but not as hard as I had anticipated coming out of high school. It took me a while to find the balance between social life and school work. In my second semester procrastination was almost my downfall. I ended up pulling four all nighters in a row to get four essays done. There was one due each day. It was a nightmare! Thank goodness I had had enough sense to do my research before otherwise I would never have finished. There would be times where I was awake one minute and the next I would find myself falling asleep somewhere. Things became very hard to keep track of as well. I distinctly remember waking up on the floor of my bedroom with my head pillowed on my backpack and my room mate shaking me saying I had mere minutes to get to class. I don’t know how I ended up on the floor or why... I made it to class but all I did was stare at my TA as if he had suddenly grown a new eyeball. He told me after class not to come if I was that tired and that if I didn't go home and go right to bed he'd fail me. By the time I finished my four all nighters I had become ill just in time for midterms. The lesson here? Don’t put it off until you become desperate because it will bite you in the rear in more ways than you can possibly fathom.

First year was a lot of things, fun, hectic, busy, tiring. Essays came and went, midterms came and went. My very first university exam was nerve wracking but I survived that one too. Despite family problems, medical problems and of course... academic problems I managed to scrape myself some pretty decent marks. I was fairly shocked at making it onto the Dean’s List in first year since my first English prof had told us to expect C’s in University even if we were A students in high school. I guess the key is to find the balance between social life and school work and you’ll be okay. There are systems in place to help you adjust to life as a university student and to succeed in your classes. Your TA’s, Profs, CA’s, HCA/HPA’s and WW Reps are there to offer you any assistance they can and to direct you to others who can further help you.

The only suggestion I can give to you as a new first year is to make this year into what you want it to be. It’s your turn to be responsible and balance out your life; have fun but don’t get carried away. Make friends and establish bonds with people who can influence your life in the future. Keep your ears and eyes open because these are the years that will shape the rest of your life. I’ve never regretted my first year, I made some amazing friendships and I met the man who is my soon-to-be fiancé. First year will be challenging in many ways and amazingly fun in others.

Make what you want out of it because you’re now in control of your own life.

Great story, thanks for it sharing with us It's nice to know that you can succeed in uni if you work at it even though high school tells us that university will pretty much eat us alive.

btw i like your Pintsize icon.. so cute.

Originally Posted by dragonfly

Great story, thanks for it sharing with us It's nice to know that you can succeed in uni if you work at it even though high school tells us that university will pretty much eat us alive.

btw i like your Pintsize icon.. so cute.

WOOT!
I love it when people know Pintsize. It gives me hope for humanity...

And yes, you CAN survive. It's hard, no doubt about it, it should be hard. But it's not out of your limits. If you made it here then you deserve to be here and if you really want it, you'll keep at it.