Back-to-School Advice

As a kick-off for Back-to-School, we asked some of our former clients to write about:

 What do I know now at the beginning of second year that I wish I knew at the beginning of first year?

 Here is our favourite response:

 For starters, I wish I knew not to trust the rez washers and dryers, so I might not have a drawer full of pink socks and underwear that were once white. I wish I was smarter about caffeine and that I used it sparingly rather than developing a severe exam-time addiction and suffering withdrawal periods after. More importantly, though, I had to learn the hard way to budget my time properly.　

 There were always friends hanging around and something fun going on in rez, so choosing which nights were study nights versus party nights was tough. It took a while to find my own comfortable middle ground and concentrate on what I had to get done, ignoring everyone else when it seemed like I was the only one going to school (and it always seems like that…).

 Too much time in the library can definitely be just as draining as too much partying.　

I wish I knew when I started school in September that the people who talk about how “it’s just first year” and “first year doesn’t matter” don’t actually know what they are talking about. First year counts for your GPA just as much as second, third, and fourth, and who wants to dig themselves out of the ditch they made when they were just lazy freshman year?

 Everyone works at his or her own pace. I met some amazing, brilliant kids who started papers the night before, worked until dawn and got A’s and B’s. I learned that I, however, am not one of those people, and I need to start papers at least a week in advance to get B’s.　

 I preferred going to lectures as opposed to listening to them recorded online, because even if I was just there to eat, sleep or do sporcle quizzes in the back, I was comforted that none of the material would look new and horrifying when I was studying later. There is nothing scarier than trying to listen to months of lectures you never got around to one week before an exam.

 Even without knowing any of these things, or how to find a book in the library, it was really comforting for me to realize that everyone was in the same boat and there to help each other succeed, or fail miserably laughing together.

Lucy Cameron, McGill 2013