Journalism instructor Heather Kelly has been teaching part-time at Humber for just over ten years and wants new students to find the most success they can and come in open-minded.
“To soak it all in and be open to any other experiences or opportunities or interests that may come your way,” she said
As the summer semester is around the corner, Humber students and staff were looking to share wisdom to first year students coming in the summer or next fall.
Kelly, who in her addition to her teaching at Humber is the Director of Communications at the Pine River Institute and co-founder of the AsiaWorks Television production agency, wants students to come in and be as flexible as they can.
“The idea is to come in and be flexible,” she said “If it’s your first year you’ve picked something that you are interested in which is wonderful but eyes wide open because there’s so much else going on at the college as well.”
Flexibility is something Danyal Khan is used to. Khan is currently a first year Hotel and Restaurant Operations student but has been at Humber for sometime in a different program.
Khan is pursuing what he is interested in and now that he’s been through the first year experience, has found that trying to stay on top of course work was his key for success
“Most students tend to have a poor work-ethic in their first year and party more,” he said “If you have a strong work-ethic, you can enjoy the college party-world equally as well.”
Police Foundations student Brandon Deans agreed with staying on top of course work but also emphasized being as social as you can.
“First year in college is a big transition year but my advice for a first year is to be social and stay on top of your work,” he said “Making friends in your class and program is a great start.”
Deans also sympathizes with students who feel lost with if they are taking the right program or not and that it is it a common feeling for everyone and OK to talk about if you have questions. Making sure you take the program you like is most important.
“That’s the struggle, is knowing what you wanna do in college, obviously it’s hard for some and some take a program and end up not liking it,” he said “I think just knowing what you want to do or having an idea of what you wanna do really does help.”
The social scene and community feel at Humber is something Kelly feels is a misconception with the schools large size. There are more communities within Humber than people realize and there’s one for everyone.
“I think each program does well in creating its own community so as a starting place if you really dig into the program you’re in and meet your instructors and meet your peers in the classes theres an opportunity there,” she said.