What kind of help do you wish you had when you started college, university, or trade school?

[Juliette]

If you've attended a college, university, or trade school, what kinds of things do you wish you new your first day (or first semester) that you know now?

What information would have been really helpful?

What supports/services do you wish had been available to you?

 

[The Penguin]

I don't know if it valid for me to write here. I don't have a wish list but I can say I was given a note taker and extra time for tests. I could have had a tape recorder but declined.

 

[AsheSkyler]

I wish I'd known I could have just bought the textbooks off the internet and just taught myself instead of going to class or the hassle of financial aid paperwork. Then maybe gone to college and take a clef test or something to show I know my stuff and get an easier degree.

 

[bentHnau]

I would have liked to have lectures recorded because I had (and still have) so much difficulty absorbing verbally-delivered information. It would also have benefited me to take my exams alone, in a quiet room because the noise of other people breathing, shuffling, and writing distracted me sometimes.

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

I also would have liked to be able to take exams in a room by myself, as the noise of others is very distracting. I also would have liked to have access to the uni counsellor from the beginning rather than only discovering the uni mental health services in my final year.

Everything else I need (dictophone to record lectures, help proof reading assignments and understanding assignment briefs, extra time and computer access in exams) I got from the beginning due to having dyslexia.

 

[Spiller]

Someone to tell me what to say and how to act around people.. college was so different from school it took me some time to get used to new routinues.

 

[Andrew206]

I wished I had more time to complete homework assignments and prepare for tests. I got easily distracted back then and sometimes studied for tests the day before the test.

 

[Flinty]

I wish I'd had any guidance whatsoever in choosing a major. Seriously. Any at all. Maybe I would have been interested then...

 

[handbanana]

I just recently discovered counselling, might try it tomorrow.

I'm so grateful there are private study rooms in the library, if it weren't for these I would have dropped out by now. I just wish there was a way from me to get to and from class without dealing with the crowds, because the crowds involve people walking/biking/skateboarding all in a small space so by the time I get to class I'm nervous and can't function.

Also wished more professors posted powerpoints/notes online. Especially with engineering, that terrible feeling that I copied a formula down wrong keeps me up at night (was that a "v" or a "u"? why does this professor write the letter "x" two different ways, ha, I didn't learn about the second one until halfway though)

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

handbanana have you tried emailing your professors and asking them to send you their powerpoints? From my experience most professors are happy to do this, as they do want you to do as well as possible on their module Only one of my lecturers didn't post their notes online or give handouts, so I asked them to send me their powerpoints and they did so before each lecture so that I could print them out and take them with me to the lecture, it was very helpful.

 

[handbanana]

handbanana have you tried emailing your professors and asking them to send you their powerpoints? From my experience most professors are happy to do this, as they do want you to do as well as possible on their module Only one of my lecturers didn't post their notes online or give handouts, so I asked them to send me their powerpoints and they did so before each lecture so that I could print them out and take them with me to the lecture, it was very helpful.

I've had luck, one professor has powerpoints posted, another has their class notes online, one teaches straight out of the book, other professor there really isn't any notes, but I need to talk to another about notes. I figured out some professor quirks but it was too late usually. (taking 5 classes)

 

[Nadador]

It was in the 1970s when I was going for my first degree, and at the time there was no such thing as a university mental health centre or special accommodations. The mental health community barely had a grasp of AS anyway, miles and miles from where things are now. I could have used ANYTHING, honestly. A quiet room for exams would have been especially good. This, and permission to do any oral presentations in private. A combination of OC perfectionism and my [at the time unrecognised] AS made it hard to write efficiently, so I would have been happy to have some help sorting my ideas and editing properly.

Today I'm slowly chipping away at a doctorate, and I'm amazed at all of the resources available at university to help me along. I hope students here make a point of exploring their options. The difference is miles away from what it used to be.

 

[Cali Cat]

I would've liked more guidance with choosing a major. Maybe one of those aptitude tests that generates a list of suitable career paths, and then guidance in researching the details of the proposed careers. I think I missed my calling by choosing a major that was an obsession of mine at the time. Now, I realize my obsessions ebb and flow with the tides ... nothing on which to base a career choice.

 

[Nadador]

I would've liked more guidance with choosing a major. Maybe one of those aptitude tests that generates a list of suitable career paths, and then guidance in researching the details of the proposed careers. I think I missed my calling by choosing a major that was an obsession of mine at the time. Now, I realize my obsessions ebb and flow with the tides ... nothing on which to base a career choice.

Did you have a hard time choosing because you had too many interests? Not enough? Lack of confidence in your choices?

I guess I'm lucky in that I've had just one, consuming special interest for all of my life. It made such choices easy. Though there is a downside to so much passion about one thing. You miss out on others, for one thing, and a true obsession can get unhealthy at times, or set you up to live a very focused existence with no back-up plan or "regular" life waiting for you in retirement.

Are you looking to change careers? Take just one class at university and you'll have access to their vocational and mental health support services. At least it's that way in the UK.

 

[Cali Cat]

Did you have a hard time choosing because you had too many interests? Not enough? Lack of confidence in your choices?

Too many interests. I had too much aptitude, and could go in any direction I chose. I liked the theory behind biological science, so I chose that as the basis of my major. At the time, I was way into the healthy lifestyle of proper diet and exercise, so I decided on Food and Nutritional Science as my major. Also, my husband was a food service worker for the VA hospital, so it seemed like a good fit. Our careers would be aligned if I chose to be a dietitian. I totally ignored the fact that I'm not really a "people person," and that my God-given talents lie in research, analysis and writing. Also, I've always been fascinated with psychology, and am pretty good with people who have psychological problems. I've been told I'm a good listener and non-judgmental. I disregarded my basic personality in favor of a career that would put me in a position that wasn't appropriate for me. So, I got my degree, and soon went into another field entirely.

I guess I'm lucky in that I've had just one, consuming special interest for all of my life. It made such choices easy. Though there is a downside to so much passion about one thing. You miss out on others, for one thing, and a true obsession can get unhealthy at times, or set you up to live a very focused existence with no back-up plan or "regular" life waiting for you in retirement.

Honestly, I envy people who've known all their lives what it is they want to do. So much time is wasted figuring it out when you don't know. When you know your true passion, you can make swift progress. I would've traded the "regular" life for a clear cut path in a hot second.

Are you looking to change careers? Take just one class at university and you'll have access to their vocational and mental health support services. At least it's that way in the UK.

Yes, I'm thinking of changing careers. The one I'm pursuing currently actually suits me to a point, but the money is just not there anymore. At my age, though, I fear there's not sufficient time to go back to school. I don't know exactly what services are available now, but I'm sure they've improve greatly since I was at university. Thank you for the idea though.