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How hard is first-year university workload?

How hard is first-year university workload?

As September draws nearer, many budding first-year students experience a mix of emotions, everything from excitement and anticipation to fear and anxiety. If you’re worrying about an overwhelming workload, don’t panic — your freshman year is a learning experience, but there’s also plenty of support along the way. Here are some resources to help you manage.

Develop a peer support system. You’re certainly not the only frosh going through this, so reach out to your friends and classmates to vent, relax and swap study tips. At York, there are also more formal peer support organizations, like Students Offering Support.

Touch base with your academic advisor. Every college, program and faculty has an academic advisor to help guide you through first year and beyond, offering advice on everything from choosing majors and minors to setting personal goals to successfully navigating a full course load.

Learn new skills. Often, it’s not about the workload but how you cope with it using the right time management, organization, note-taking and reading skills. You can get help, tips and hacks from campus learning skills services or online study hubs.

Practice healthy coping skills. This is a super fun and easy way to tackle first-year stress — balance school with relaxing and unwinding with friends, intramural sports or an exciting student club. Exercise and frequent short breaks during studying also help.

Ask for extra help when needed. Never be ashamed to take advantage of additional supports, like counselling and disabilities services, which can make a big positive impact for those with permanent or temporary mental, physical or learning difficulties.

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