Universities have their own particular culture and style. University life can enable a student to enhance learning capabilities. This is possible as universities provide a variety of ways to bring about a change in life and influence the world in a positive manner. However, students have difficulty in adjusting to the university culture. These aspects have been discussed below.
ASPECTS TO BE CONSIDERED
There is initial excitement of leaving home and traveling over for studies. Arrangements for accommodations should be preferably made beforehand. The best part of university life appears to be living away from home. As a student thinks that this would give him freedom and an opportunity to know and meet other students. Accomodation away from home adds to costs as well as makes a student feel homesick soon. Initially you might not feel lonely as you have people facing similar circumstances, but with passage of time students have difficulty in adjusting to it.
After some time initial excitement ends and a student faces challenges while living and studying in a new culture. You will begin to see how life is different from your home country and thus, a student tends to miss home. Initial excitement may convert into anxiety and disappointment. This is usually termed as cultural shock. This is because some consequences and experiences have continuously confronted your normas and values.
You will tend to observe many changes in your surrounding. You might not like the food or what you like to eat may not be available. You will encounter cultural differences among people and how they interact. As people will be from diverse backgrounds and communication may pose a problem. There may be a problem in understanding what people have to say due to varying languages and accents.
Some new and challenging tasks will arise every now and then. You may be not sure of how to tackle these tasks.
Studying is also a challenging task as what lecturers expect from you may entirely different from your personal style. You may also not feel comfortable while talking and asking questions from them.
Your close family and friends are far away. You can call them as and when required. As you may not have some else to talk to you may have to contact them. Contacting over long distances can somtime pose problems.
Living away from home, requires students to plan out a routine, cook meals, pay rent and so on. This all requires managing funds and dealing with all the expenses effectively. In order to deal with numerous expenses, it is wise to look out for any student loans and apply for scholarships. Apart from this, part time and weekend jobs can be found to finance these expenses.
After an entire hard day of study, students need to relax and have fun. It may be a problem if entertainment sites are not near or easily accessible from the university. Thus, it is advisable to see that entertaining places like cinemas, restaurants and parks are easily accessible. Try to avail student discounts and special offers as often as possible.
Managing time is an essestial aspect to survive and remain competitive at university. As time for studying, shopping, doing other tasks and socializing has to be managed.
It is better to plan out time beforehand. This is possible by maintaing a weekly or monthly schedule. And trying level best to accomplish tasks as scheduled. This will enable you to be in time for classes, meet deadlines for projects, do shopping in time and so on. Therefore, a flexible schedule must be maintained and effort should be made to follow it.
Dealing with these changes is difficult and can be hectic. Thus effort should be made to analyse the cause and effects of these changes and trying to overcome them. Following tips can be followed to overcome these changes and to adjust to university culture.
TIPS TO MAXIMIZE STUDENTS ADJUSTMENTS TO UNIVERSITY
The students must be encouraged to attend the orientation. This will also provide an opportunity to meet new and current students and hence learn from their experiences. It will also provide guidance of how university life goes on and how should it be managed.
However, initially a student may feel lonely. But pretty soon you will find good friends. As all new students would be looking around with the same concern. Students will find people who can provide them with guidance of how to go about doing things and making them aware of the university culture.
As a student you will not begin liking the environment and the new relationships quite easily. All this will take time, as you need time to become familiar with the surrounding and the culture. So give yourself time to adjust.
Living with roommates may serve to be good but has its own problems. As personal space, relaxation and sleep requirements have to be met. The main issue is when roommates are from different backgrounds. This can be overcome by compromising on some aspects and discussing and resolving other aspects. Roommates may not be your best friends but a mutual consensus has to be reached in order to adjust to university culture.
Though more freedom is available, it can sometimes create problems. This freedom should be well-managed and should be aligned with the students norms and needs.
The level of studies of universities is more difficult then scools. There is more to read and study and more projects and assignements to do. Lectures alone are not sufficient but a lot of self study and responsibility is required. For this a student has to do advance readings and follow the course outlines. If a lecture is missed, student is responsible to collect the lectures and if further assistance is needed, lecturer should be contacted in time. Students should feel comfortable and free to contact their lecturers.
Effort should be made to keep in touch with family and friends through emails and phone. Share your experiences with them and seek their advice as required.
Look for similarities between your culture and the new culture. Instead of complaining make effort to make good friends and do activities, you enjoy doing. You can also join some clubs and societies, to pass time, socialize and learn at the same time.
Counselling services are also available for students having problems in adjusting to university life. These services can be provided by professionals and graduates. Students must not hesitate in receving such councelling. All information shared is confidential so students must actively seek counselling services for any issues they have in adjusting to the university culture. Consultation will enable a student to express his concerns and thus, gain confidence. If students gain advantage from consultation, they can regularly seek counselling and adjust to the university culture in a better manner.
Apart from this, universities can arrange workshops for skill-buliding throughout the academic year. This would enable students to develop appropriate skills, improve their personalities and achieve academis success simultaneously.
REFERENCES
http://www.indiana.edu
http://counselling.curtin.edu.au
http://www.ntu.edu.sg/SCC/Self+Help+Resources/adjusting+to+a+new+culture
http://ub-counseling.buffalo.edu
http://www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/learningconnection/student/counselling
http://www.manchester.ac.uk/undergraduate/studentlife
