As the 2021-2022 school year comes to an end Humber College students and faculty are sharing tips for future first year students.
This past school year has looked a little different for students due to the ongoing COVID19 pandemic.
Some students had their courses taught completely online or were given the luxury of a hybrid class.
The pandemic has made things difficult for students and affected their learning throughout the semester.
Many students and professors at Humber had advice to share for upcoming first year students on how to have a successful first year. Most students expressed the importance of developing time management.
Second year Humber College Practical Nursing student Lei Kunitoki at Humber's LRC. Photo credit: Hajar Rifai
Second year Practical Nursing student Lei Kunitoki, shared her advice for first year students.
“This is something that I should listen to myself about. But like time management,” she said.
Kunitoki went on to share that staying focused and getting work done should be everyone’s priority.
“Done is better than perfect, and like managing your time well and don’t do things last minute,” will help first year students succeed, she said.
Simren Preetkaur, a second year international student in the computer system technician program had similar advice as Kunitoki.
Preetkaur shared her struggles from her first year and the advice she had for new students coming in.
“Just concentrate because with online studies students are not able to concentrate and I faced a problem in my first year with that,” she said.
Preetkaur also shared the importance of knowing the context of your course or program and preparing yourself beforehand.
“Students should know about their course subjects because when I came here I didn’t know about my subject and faced problems in my course, and they have to choose their professors according to them and their comfort also,” she said.
One tip that Amber Desmeules, a first year student in the Early Childhood studies program, shared was prioritization.
Prioritizing school and keeping up with classes helped, she said, “I would just say to prioritize school over socialization as you need to make sure you keep up on notes and like it helps with studying.”
She went on to say that in her first semester she found herself falling behind and had to catch up. Desmeules said, “I found that I fell behind in the first semester and caught up with this semester more.”
Also in the Early Childhood studies program, second year student Abbey Minkovich shared the importance of building bonds with your professors.
‘“My advice would be to develop bonds with your professor. I had great bonds with a lot of my professors and they were able to help me a lot throughout the semesters,” she said.
Developing bonds with your professors is a way to ease the stress that comes with the semester.
”They understand how I worked, what I needed, and it made learning so much more fun and a lot less stressful,” Minkovich said.
Coming into college especially as a first year student can be daunting, but Humber College Media Foundation professor, Anne Zibitnew shared the importance of stepping outside your comfort zone.
]“Be brave and be curious. Try things you never tried before, and if you know how to do something pretend you don’t, and see where that takes you,” she said.
For first year students trying new things will be the last thing on their mind, and for that reason Zibitnew said,“be curious and try things that maybe you never thought of before cause that’s how you’re going to learn.”