REFLECTION: 8 Things I Wish I Knew Before My First Year At University Online During A Pandemic

Thers is no better way to start this week because this was long overdue but since we are about to start the second semester I might as well have you guys know what I didn’t know because chilee when I tell you that all of the advice and nice words that you guys gave me was good but … I- I have to do a part 2 because this literally scrapes the surface. I don’t think enough emphasis was placed on this online situation but, I have ya’ll and so many more semesters to go. I must say I am really happy that I am a 2001 baby, but never had I imagined that I would be starting University online because of a pandemic. There was no warning sign. There was no tag on me after birth that I was about to go through this and to be honest, I don’t care what anybody wanna say, God made us stronger than any other year, I promise. Looking back from school prior to now, we were always the “worst set”. It’s us being the strongest for me but let’s not even debate. So much happened last year that I don’t even think it would be fair for me to do a review because I won’t be able to manage the weight.

Let’s just begin!!!

On Your Own

Now I know, some of you guys are going to be like, “what did you think? There were so many things that I personally thank the students at my university for and that’s because they were so helpful in our transition process from High School to university but there were some things that I had to do on my own. I was always an organized person especially when it came to my school life. I had folders and notes in specific places for specific reasons. I had days for assignments etc so transitioning into Uni as it relates to scheduling my time wisely was not much of an issue to me. I do think though because of my personality that face to face would be a bit more difficult for me so I will proudly say that I love online school. I’m sorry guys, I think I get way more done and save time from travelling and even walking to and from classes.

8 AM

Uhm, when I was in high school I was not thinking about this much but 8 AM in university is not the same time as everybody else. I know this sounds like a reach for everybody else but I have never seen 8 AM the same. There are days I am just rolling in my bed at 8. So I cannot do morning lectures at all. Times like this I am making breakfast. I really think the time just takes off the second you get accepted into university.

Adults are Children

If there is one thing that I learnt it is this. Adult does not mean mature. It does not mean responsible and it most definitely does not mean good work ethic. Some priorities are definitely not straight and I mean, who am I to say that I want good grades because I paid a lot of money to be here? 😂😂 There are days I wonder if I really am a bad child or my parents are just reaching when they say I need to be more responsible. (On the plus side, they don’t say that I’m irresponsible, the satisfaction from words). I have met some of the most immature people here and I really think it is a reach to call children immature. Age means wisdom…? I digress.

Deadlines

There is something about “dead” and “line” being put together that doesn’t sit right with me. I have never missed a deadline but I have never been so scared of something like a time and date in my lifeeeeee. I mean, I really be doing these assignments as I get them and try my best to not forget them. This is not as bad for me because as I said I try my best to be organized with my time and keep my routine. When I do that I do much better than if I just go with the flow and don’t have any set schedule or plan.

Coursework

Many may hate and few may love me but the best thing about my degree is that I do not have finals. Somebody say it with me, “God is a good God”. I only get finals from courses outside of my faculty which was 1 this year and I personally want to thank the noble institution for leaving me with this grand opportunity of just having coursework each week for each course. Some may say that it is better to have these assignments than finals and some may disagree. For me and based on my work ethic, this is ideal for my school career because I knowing evrrything for a whole semester and putting it on paper is just not it for me. Ask me each week. Give me 400 words each week. We can do that. I can learn and you can too. I feel the pressure during the semester and it leaves the second I’m done all assignments. I cannot imagine having assignments and a final exam. I would cry but Uni will not get my to shed a tear so…

Uhmm, Speak Up

It’s me thinking that my dad was going to come to my rescue for me. It’s me thinking that not saying anything was going to solve it for me. It’s me rehearsing what I should have said in the bathroom to what I didn’t even say a thing to for me. Let’s just say, I could not take these approaches and I knew the moment I “stepped” into these classes. There was no way I was going to pass this course if I didn’t tell a lecturer I needed a better explanation or tell my group members that my time is valuable and I’m not about to fail because they were late. I need my work (yes you have to take it personal) pronto!!

Together We Conquer, Divided We Fall

I just want to take this opportunity and say publicly that I personally want to thank my classmates that helped me when I was at my lowest (yes that was exaggeration but did you check up on me when I was in the middle of the semester though? Figures) !!! I want to also take this time out to thank all those that explained the material better than our lecturers because sometimes we still have that high school processing level. Talk about it. I also want to thank those that made sure that everyone submitted the assignments on time and also told the group when they dropped for us to start. Let’s also thank those that seem to always be on ourVLE to see when the grades drop. We appreciate you!!

Different Minds

The world slapped me in the face last semester. People think way differently than I expected. I know the media projects a certain view on a LOT of things, I just didn’t know that so many people my age, especially Jamaicans had certain point of views as well. It isn’t anything like serious but I think I was living under a bubble or something. There are a lot of things that I just… don’t understand anymore. How different people think now. Some days I wonder at what stage in my life that happened and I didn’t realise. I’ll just scrape the surface and say different minds in the same places but different phases in our lives.

I hope you enjoyed the little run through of some things I didn’t know. I wanted to do a bit more on how online school is going but I’ll save that for later on in the semester.

~🇯🇲 The CreatOR creatED a creatIVE – Queen Ruthie 🇯🇲~