by Phil McBurney
Director, AEC

Recently a former student named Meghann Mclachlan participated on a panel that came to AEC to talk about the transition from our centre to post-secondary.  Meghann is now in third year at the University of Winnipeg with a double major in Sociology and Criminal Justice.

The transformation in Meghann over the last three years has been astonishing.  This past year she was published and credited in her professor’s new text book.  This was Meghann?  The single mother of two who dropped out of school and came to AEC to finish up?  The high school drop-out who worked at a series of dead-end jobs until she got tired of where she was headed?  The same Meghann who went to university to be a lawyer based on the thought that important people are doctors or lawyers?  “Well, I don’t like science,” she said to herself, “so I guess I’ll be a lawyer then.”  The same Meghann whose first couple of essays I edited to help her with her faulty grammar and organization?

If you talk to Meghann today, she’ll tell you about how university is more than marks and credits, and worth all the hard work, just because it opens up a whole new world of thinking and possibilities.  Meghann is in a different space now than she was when she first walked through our doors.

One thing she said really stuck with me.  “You don’t have to be that smart,” she said, “You just need some ‘butt’ time.”  Well, she actually used a ruder term.  But basically, there are times you just need to apply the seat of your pants to the seat of the chair and “Get ‘er done,” as Manitoba’s own John Montgomery might say.  It’s not that you need to be fantastically smart to do well at university; you just need to recognize when to apply yourself, and then simply apply yourself.

I have kept a file, as I am in the habit of doing about topics that interest me, on the transition from high school to post-secondary.  Several articles ask students for first-year survival tips.  So besides Meghann’s ‘butt’ time, here are a few others:

University is nothing to be afraid of—Professors provide summaries, reading schedules, online notes and PowerPoint slides.  The trick is, of course, to pay attention to them.  As Meghann said, you don’t have to be a genius; you just have to apply yourself.

Get lots of sleep—you need to be alert in class.  Doing a slack-jawed head bob during a slow-moving lecture will not do much for your learning.

Get to class early—so you can…

Sit in the front row—Not heard of the famous “Magic T”?  Statistically, studies have shown that students sitting across the front and down the middle of classes get higher marks.  No why would that be?  Besides, why fight the statistical odds?

Read your syllabus—Professor will hand out a detailed course outline on the first day.  Read it, mark dates for assignments in your calendar, and check your schedule of readings in order to…

Stay on top of readings—Most courses have scheduled readings with dates attached to them.  Keep up.  Even better, prepare for classes by doing the assigned readings ahead of time.  Study up on how to take notes on what you’re reading by googling one of the many websites that explain methods and tips.

Talk to your professors—especially if you are unclear about the parameters of an assignment or where you stand in the course.  All professors hold office hours.  Make an appointment.

Plan your time—You will find yourself with all kinds of unstructured time in university, which has undone many a student.  Get a planner.  Read up on time management if you lack that skill.

Check the rules—Especially about citing sources, bibliographies and the like.  Do you know the difference between MLA, APA and Chicago, and do you know which style your professor prefers?  And also when you don’t understand an assignment, you need to learn to be assertive as a post-secondary student.  Therefore…

Ask questions—Of course, you can’t ask questions if you don’t attend class, so that’s another issue.  (“Did anything happen in class during the last two weeks?” is not a question you want to be asking.)  When you’re in tutorials and lectures, stay engaged by probing when you need understanding.  And take advantage of office hours, mentioned above.

I could go on here, but that’s enough for now.  Drop-out rates at post-secondary are notoriously high, but I’m convinced that attending with at least some knowledge of the transition from high school will serve you well, and keep you from wasting your time and money.