0020 Transitioning from High School to University
The Brief
Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen to the Architecture Student Diaries where it is my mission to help you kill it in Architecture school whilst making you, the best you in the process. Are you finishing High School this year or just wondering what University life is like? Are you ready to start your new adventure at University or College and wanting to make sure you make the most out of it? Well, the transition between High School and University is typically one of the most intimidating and exciting experiences that you will undertake in your lifetime, but this class is designed to help take out the intimidating part and make the exciting parts even better! University doesn’t need to be scary so keep reading to find out how to make the most out of your new life in the adult world.
Below is a breakdown of what we will discuss in today's lesson:
Your ATAR/SAT Score Doesn’t Matter Anymore
Don’t be Scared. Ask for Help if you Need it
Make the Most of it
Make Good Decisions
There’s No Hand Holding Anymore
Expand Your Networks
Learn to Manage Yourself
You are Going to Experience More Diversity than Ever Before
Self-Discovery
Gap Years
Now, let’s get into it. Class is now in session.
Your ATAR/SAT Score Doesn’t Matter Anymore
Yes, I know. You just spent 12-13 years of your life in school all in the hope of gaining that elusive final shiny graduation score to get into the University or College of your choice. Well… it doesn’t mean anything anymore. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Yes, your score is important to gain you a place in university, but once you’re there it doesn’t really do anything for you. As a matter of fact, there are probably a lot of people in your cohort who didn’t even get a score. They may be mature age students, they may have taken an alternate pathway or a number of different avenues, but they’re there sitting alongside you in the lecture hall.
You may find that in the first few weeks of college that your score comes up from time to time, but this is because most of those in your cohort have just left school and this is the one thing that you all have in common to talk about. Once the first assignment comes around and you have new things to talk about, it’s time to forget about that score because now you’re going to be judged on how well you do in your university assignments and your track record in High School can’t help you with that.
Don’t be Scared. Ask for Help if you Need it.
As you join college life you might be intimidated by this whole new foreign world. When I started University, I knew not a single person, I moved out of home, across the country, to a completely new place that I have only been a couple of times before in my life; it’s scary, I know. But there is no need to be scared. For the first time in your life, you are surrounded by likeminded people who have all chosen the same course as you; they all share the same dream of becoming an architect, just like you. They are also only starting their new venture and are almost certain to be just as scared and unsure as you are, so join into a conversation when you hear people talking about something you know, ask someone where the best coffee is around campus, try to be as welcoming as you can and start making new friends.
Your tutors and all of the staff at the University are there because they want to help you to graduate and be the best architect that you can be, just like I do. So, don’t be frightened by them, you don’t need to be scared to ask people questions or to make a mistake in an assignment because they want you to do your best. If you didn’t understand something that a professor said, just ask them to repeat it, if you don’t know where the library is, just ask someone to point you in the right direction. And If you don’t know how to start your assignment, ask your tutor if you could stay back and chat for five minutes after class and they will be more than happy to help you. If they don’t have the time to help right then because they might need to get to another class, they will most likely either schedule in a specific time to help you or guide you to an academic assistance staff member specifically employed to help you in instances like this. As it says in Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything.”
Make the Most of it
You only get to go to University once. Okay, now this isn’t exactly true, you can go to University as many times to do as many degrees as you want, but you only get to go to University when you are young and straight out of High School once. Attending University when you are young can be one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences of your life, and it should be. So, don’t waste your time there! Make the most out of every opportunity that comes your way; this all starts with orientation week. Each university and college usually run an ‘O-Week’ at the start of every year, the week before the semester starts. Typically, during this week, a massive number of activities are run from orientation sessions, campus tours, college club and society stalls, sports events and of course the all-important parties! This week is a terrific way to get to know your University and start to make new friends and I recommend attending as many activities as possible throughout this time that you can to make the best start to your college years.
Further to this there are plenty other ways to make the most of your college years including joining clubs, sporting teams and least popular of all, starting all assignments early! I know that it is common that most university students leave their assignments until the last minute before they are due and that it is near inevitable that this will happen to most at some stage in their degree. However, you will not believe how much better off you will be come submission time if you slowly chip away at your assignments throughout the semester instead. If you try to hit certain milestones each week in your assignments throughout the semester, you will find that you have vastly more free time; when you start doing this you will then be able to take advantage of this new-found spare time having fun doing the other university activities mentioned above. And if you find yourself bored with too much spare time, I have another class specifically talking about What to do in Your Spare Time, so give it a read.
Make Good Decisions
Everyone makes wrong decisions in their life and that is completely okay, making wrong decisions and realizing that we have is how we learn as people; but it is important that once we have learnt these lessons that we don’t make that wrong decision again. As you move into the adult world it is more and more important that you begin to make better decisions because your parent isn’t by your side to stop you anymore. Below are some top tips for making easy good decisions that will help you out massively:
Go to class:
I have said this in almost every topic so far, it is crucial to your success in Architecture School.
Take care of yourself:
This is important both for your physical and mental wellbeing. Eat right, exercise and if you need a break, take a break.
Plan:
It is exceptionally easy to fall behind and lose track of things in college because there is no routine or schedule like in High School, so plan out your days and know exactly what you need to do and where you need to be.
Sleep:
It is one of the most well-known and researched facts in the world, sleep is just about the most important thing in a person’s life to ensure that they are well and healthy. Don’t do all-nighters; make specific bed and wake up times so you can get into a good sleep rhythm.
Set realistic expectations:
It’s very easy to fall into the trap of starting university and saying, “I am going to get High Distinctions on every assignment for the next four years”. This isn’t going to happen; I’m telling you this now. See how you go on your first few assignments; this will tell you where you sit academically in your course. Look at those numbers and set reasonably goals for improvement for the next semester. If you average a credit, aim for averaging a distinction next. Don’t average passes one semester and say that you are going to get all HD’s the next, this puts way too much stress on you, and you will become overwhelmed. Keep working at it slowly and in a few semesters time you might really be able to ace your score card.
There’s no Hand Holding Anymore
As mentioned above, your parents aren’t going to be there to tell you not to do something, and unlike High School your teachers aren’t going to put pressure on you to hand something in on time. At university it is all up to you, if you don’t do an assignment, you will fail it, if you don’t go to class, your teacher isn’t going to spend time to bring you back up to speed; it’s all on you. You need to make sure you do your assignments on time, eat healthy lunches and basically do all of the things that adults have done for you for your whole life, because guess what… you’re the adult now. Further to this, there is also no dress code or school uniform like High School to tell you how to dress, again this is up to you, so dress appropriately. If you need some help with this, I talk about what to wear at University in my class Your First Review, so check that out for some tips.
Expand Your Networks
Unless you moved around a lot as a child, you most likely have gone through all of your schooling in life with groups of people who live near you do, know the same people that you do and have only seen a few different people come and go from your circles throughout the years. Get ready for a change. University is the time to expand your networks both in your friendships and professional circles because you are going to meet literally thousands of new people who are from every different walk of life. Some will be young, some will be old, some will have been working in architecture for 30 years and others like you, may still be learning what an architect really is. So, spend your time at University meeting new people, making new friends and creating new connections with others because you never know, these people may be those that you walk through the rest of life with on Saturday nights out or on Monday mornings in the office.
Learn to Manage Yourself
It is integral throughout your University years that you learn to be self-disciplined. I have touched on this briefly above when talking about making good decisions and there being no hand holding in University, but I thought that it was so important that I would give this a standalone section. To succeed in University and in adult life itself you need to learn to manage yourself properly. You need to learn how to manage your time and to keep track of everything that is going on in your life because it only gets busier from here; to do this you need to schedule, be efficient and be productive in the time you have. Another crucial thing you need to manage come adulthood is your money. If you aren’t already, soon you will have to start paying rent, bills, fuel and car payments, you might want to buy a house or save for holidays; so, start reading financial books and learn how money works.
Due to the increase in online learning and remote working since the COVID-19 pandemic, being self-disciplined has never been more crucial in university and in the workplace than it is today. There is now less pressure felt by people to do the right thing as you don’t always need to put in effort to leave the house to go to class or work. It becomes easy to say, “I will just watch the lecture recording some other time”, but then something will come up and you won’t watch it. Robert Kiyosaki discusses in his book ‘Rich Dads: Retire Young. Retire Rich.’ that the word ‘tomorrow’ is the worst word in the English language, and I agree. The best time to start being self-disciplined is right now, don’t say ‘I’ll start tomorrow”, start today.
You are Going to Experience more Diversity than Ever Before
As stated above in ‘Expand Your Networks’, I mentioned that you are going to be exposed to thousands of different people that you may have not had opportunities to meet otherwise. Universities are filled with cultural diversity vastly more so than a typical school; some people will not notice the difference, though some might see it as a bit of a shock at first. Don’t be afraid of diversity and things that are different to what you know though, look at them as an opportunity to learn new things. At universities there are international students who come from all over the world to study with you, there are mature aged students who might be thirty years older than you, there may be people from different backgrounds and cultures that you have never been exposed to before; spend time with these people and learn from them, you can teach them things too. If you want to take this further, put your hand up to undertake study tours. Study tours are one of the most rewarding and educationally enriching things that you can do in University; in first year I undertook a study tour to India and Singapore, I learnt about other countries, cultures, architectural design styles, construction techniques and made friends that I still keep in contact to this day; so if you get the opportunity to study abroad, take it.
Self-Discovery
University is typically the time in one’s life when you really start to figure out who you are as a person. As a child you are directed along a path by your parents, siblings, the government, and society for where you should be going, what you should be doing and what you should be learning; University is the first chance that a person really gets to make their own decisions and be there own person. These years are when you will start to find your real friends, learn what you really like to spend your time doing and hopefully start seeing the things you want to see and being the person you want to be. Spend time at University trying to let yourself just be you, go with where life takes you and try to find your place in the world. The sooner you learn this, the happier you will be in life.
Gap Years
I have left this section until last because it is only an optional path to your time at university and not everyone will take a gap year. I personally did take a gap year between finishing High School and starting University, and for me that was the right choice, but it is not necessarily the right choice for everyone. I was offered a job in an architecture firm as I was finishing my final High School exams and began working there less than a month after I graduated, therefore I had a reason to take a gap year; I had a full-time job that was going to help me progress in my career. Me taking this gap year to work in the field meant that when it came time for me to start Architecture School, I already knew the basics, I understood the industry and I knew that it was the direction I wanted to go in life. This helped me immensely in first year.
Now, should you take a gap year? If you have an opportunity like I did to take a gap year and you know that it is going to be a real benefit to you, take a gap year, you will not regret it. If you are thinking about taking a gap year just for the sake of having a break, have no direction for the year, and will most likely spend a large portion of the year wasting your time, go straight to college; you will graduate a year earlier, and you won’t have wasted a year of your career. Whether you should take a gap year is completely circumstantial and should be decided on a case-to-case basis of what is the right decision for you; so take some time and make sure you do what is best for you and your future.
Final Notes
Transitioning from High School to University is one of the biggest steps in a person’s life, but it doesn’t have to be scary. I hope that the above class has helped to clear some things up about university that you might not have known and that it has prepared you for what you are going to experience once the time comes to join architecture school. If you have any other tips for moving from High School to University, be sure to pop them in the comments because I’d love to hear them. In the meantime, make sure you like and follow The Architecture Student Diaries on Instagram and Facebook to make sure you get first access to all new TASD content!
Ladies and Gentlemen, class dismissed.
Iain Colliver, SONA, YBA, GKIHS
