this one?goes out to all my?first years out there who are quaking in their?boots at the thought of starting school. listen up, ’cause aska’s about to explain why a bit of quaking is okay.
if you’re coming into first year,?you’re allowed (even expected) to be?afraid. in case you haven’t noticed this yet, it’s normal to be apprehensive about new situations. if we didn’t, our species would’ve died out the first time someone?tried to tackle a mountain lion and everyone just charged in after the dude instead of running in the other direction, and that would’ve been embarrassing and bloody for all of us.
if you’re afraid that university will be too difficult, or that everyone else will be smarter than you – that too, is normal, and a result of high school teachers’ unfortunate tendency to make their students?behave?by instilling in them a mortal fear of THE ALMIGHTY UNIVERSITY.
still, being afraid is sensible if you handle it the right way.?the important thing is NEVER to let your fear get so big that it makes you stick your head in the sand. you may come to school in september and find that classes are harder than you thought, or you’re lonelier than you expected to be. life might throw you some curve balls.
but if/when a curve ball does happen, you SHOULD NOT?BE AFRAID?to seek out help. the problem will only?get worse if it’s not dealt with, like a particularly unfortunate boil.
on the other hand, if you ask for help as soon as you notice there’s a problem, the boil will be gone before you can snapchat a picture of it to unwitting acquaintances.
you’ve got lots of time to drop courses you don’t like (september 21st/january 15th), ask questions about course material (go to your tutorial and prof’s office hours!), get help outside of class (at a math aid centre, writing centre, economics study centre, or with one of the many, many tutors employed by uoft’s academic departments), and speak with your registrar’s office about any questions you may have.
at every step of the way, there is someone available to answer your questions and provide support. even aska will answer your questions, as long as you let me poke fun at you a bit first.
enjoy your first week, everyone!
aska
