Tips to transition from school to university

The transition from school to university is an exciting time in young people’s lives. It can also take a bit of adjustment as secondary and tertiary education can seem like different worlds.

To help you make the transition a bit easier we’ve asked for some tips from Kimberley Aguet a Professional Counsellor at Virtual Psychologist.

“I remember what it was like when I first started uni; the assignments, readings, studying, navigating the campus, exams, essays, new people and more can be overwhelming,” she says. 

“The transition from high school to university is a significant event and our mindset or your way of thinking impacts how we respond to the challenges ahead.”

Mind over matter

You’re not born with a mindset. It’s created by you, based on your experiences and your responses to them.  If you choose to change your mindset from being negative and self-defeating to a positive, growth mindset it may provide you with a better framework for new experiences at university.

“For example, we can have a fixed mindset and believe our qualities and intelligence are static and cannot be changed and success is determined by talent alone,” Kimberley says.  “Or we can have a growth mindset and view the transition to university as an opportunity to grow, develop new skills and knowledge about the topic of study and most importantly about our self.”

The language we use can impact our mindset considerably. So, if you want to develop a positive or growth mindset you can start by being mindful of the words you use.

“Instead of saying ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘I can’t achieve my goal’, say ‘not yet’, meaning that you haven’t mastered the goal or task yet,” Kimberley explains. 

“Embrace your imperfections and acknowledge this is your uniqueness, explore and appreciate your strengths and work to improve your weaknesses. Have a sense of purpose to help you develop a growth mindset.  Be mindful of self-limiting beliefs which are thoughts that prevent you from achieving your goals.

“Some common self-limiting beliefs might be, ‘I can’t possibly do that, it’s too hard’, ‘I will fail’. This creates a ‘fixed mindset’ and means you don’t strive to improve your abilities,” she says.

Stress management

Moving from the familiar environment of school to university can be stressful. Everything seems different. Your friends may not be around you and making friends may not be as easy as you thought.

The way you handle the stress that you might experience when you first start uni can affect whether you see it as a positive or negative experience.

“It’s inevitable that your experience will be stressful at some point in your uni life,” Kimberley says. “So, it’s helpful to practice some stress management techniques rather than waiting until you hit a wall. 

Stress management techniques include:

• Solid sleep routines and enough sleep so your body and mind are in a good state to deal with stress 
• A good diet helps your body get the essential nutrients it needs to function and minimise the effects of stress
• Regular exercise releases ‘feel good’ hormones in the body and helps us deal with life’s stressors 
• Support network of friends, family or the university’s student support centre

“Remember you’re not alone; there are people that can help you when you feel stuck,” Kimberley says. “Most importantly, we need to slow down our breathing when we are feeling stressed. When we’re overwhelmed by emotions our breathing pattern changes and our breathing can become short shallow and rapid. 

“So, when you’re feeling stressed and anxious, slow the breathing down which helps to slow down your thoughts and tells the body and mind that it is okay and to relax. 

“Here’s a breathing technique to help you slow down your breathing and manage stress, it’s simple and backed up by research. Known as 4-7-8 Breathing, you simply breathe in for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds and continue this until you feel a sense of calmness. 

“This technique can be done anywhere or anytime and is good to practice on a daily basis as a preventative measure to ensure our wellbeing and a stress-free transition from high school to university,” she says.

Helpful pointers

Here’s a few more tips from Kimberley to help you transition to university smoothly.

Preparation and organisation

Get yourself a diary to organise your university schedule, assignments and exams. Map out when your assignments are due on a calendar so you can plan to give yourself initially 2 to 3 weeks to prepare for each task.  his leaves you plenty of time to figure out the best way to research for assignments and study for exams. Also take your laptop to lectures and tutorials so you can type up notes straight into a document to save you some time.

Know your learning style 

Are you a visual, audio or kinesthetic learner? Knowing your learning style can be an eye opener as there’s no point making endless amounts of notes if you learn best by listening to a recorded lecture. Find out your learning style and structure your learning to suit, where possible.

Make your studying efficient

A helpful tool to make your studying efficient especially for exams is the use of mind maps. Mind maps are a helpful way to memorise and learn new information as they replicate neural pathways which is how the brain stores information. If you have never used mind maps before, to put it simple, the main topic is in the centre of the page, then create a branch for each point related to the topic and smaller sub-branches. 

The move from structured school life to university can be a challenge but with a bit of preparation you can start this exciting part of your life on the right foot. 

Virtual Psychologist participated in the Optus' social innovation accelerator, Future Makers in 2017 and provides text based mental health support and counselling services. For more information on mental health see their informative range of articles.

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