What I Wish I Knew in First Year...

Author: Will Lint
Posted on July 14, 2020

If you’re anything like many undergrad students, you dread the question that is asked so often, “what do you want to do after school?” The first thing I wish I knew in first year was that it is perfectly fine to not know the answer to this question. Many students change their major over the course of their years at university. Personally, I started off in a Bachelor of Commerce and switched to a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science in my second year. During this period of uncertainty, I am so thankful that I had the close-knit Mount A community to aid me in this transition because of the accessibility to reach out to academic advising, upper years, and profs. Finding the degree that suited me best helped me tremendously in my enjoyment of the material I am learning and to (somewhat) map out my post-graduate plans. 

Secondly, I wish I had realized that failure is okay. By no means am I saying go fail all your classes and not try, but I am saying that certain courses/subjects may not be for you or they simply bore you. This is the reason why MtA’s distribution course system works so well. While it may be tedious to take courses in different disciplines, it helps you pinpoint what subjects you love while becoming more well-rounded in the process. Just like the path of life, the path through university is full of ups and downs that all students experience. Summer courses and additional semesters are very common and nothing to be ashamed of. Without a bit of trial and error, I would have never found the degree I really want to pursue. 

Doing poorly in certain classes obviously doesn’t feel too great. Although, failure does help us learn quite a bit about ourselves and can help us better prepare for the future. In this case, it can help us answer the dreaded question of “what do you want to do after school?” or simply what DON’T you want to do. If you’re unsure or worried about the future of your degree, talk to your professors or go visit academic advising, there is plenty of support out there. The most important thing is to do what YOU want to do.

Academics is such a small part of university and first year. Many upper years could write entire papers about what they wish they knew in first year. Unfortunately, I do not have the space to elaborate on all areas of university. My biggest pieces of advice that I could give for your first year are to step out of your comfort zone and be whoever you want to be. Mistakes are inevitable and that’s okay, you’re only in first year once and you’ll (hopefully) learn from them. If anyone has any questions regarding first year advice or just wants to say hi, feel free to send me an email at wdlint@mta.ca.