As a fellow first-year, I’m just as scared as you because we’re all about to enter the finals season this week. I’m sure we all miss the high school days when the exam was only worth up to 30% of your mark. Remember how we thought 30% was a lot? Look at us now, that’s so little compared to what we must face in university. I have a 60% econ midterm on Friday and I’m absolutely terrified for that. I wish anyone else with similar final weightings the best of luck.
I know, we’re all dying at this point. You tried your best on midterms and assignments, only managing to get a 70 something, which was your high school mark for “just pass.” You’ve tried so hard each time to aim for 80, but even the multiple choice on the midterm seems so freaking hard. I mean the answers all look the same and I can barely tell the difference between the four choices. Remember those short answer questions that somehow asked you to write an essay? And they also required you to remember concepts in depth when, unfortunately you only remembered the brief ideas of each. You know you can’t fail or your marks are gonna plummet, and you won’t have the grade requirements to make it through the rest of the year. I know, it’s all as scary as hell…but I still need you to calm down for long enough to read the rest of this post, ok?
Firstly, let me remind you that at orientation week, they all said that you are certainly gonna experience failure during you time at university, so since it is your first year, you are gonna have to lower your high school standards because university is a completely different ballgame than high school. If you’re meeting the grade requirements in your course, that’s good, especially because it was a hard transition for the first month or so. So don’t consider that a fail. Instead, tell yourself, “I’m where I need to be at right now, and I can continue working harder to reach where I want to be in the future.” I know it’s hard right now, and I know we’ve all experienced more trips and stumbles than we’ve ever had in all four years of high school. Some of us have probably fallen flat on our faces a few times over the past few months, but remember that you must keep picking yourself up and you must keep trying, because if you don’t try, the game is fully over. You have not failed until you’ve stopped trying.
It’s also important to remember that no matter how important your grades are, they will only get you so far in life. As one saying goes “intellectual intelligence gets you the job, but emotional intelligence is what gets you promoted.” In the real world, you’re not gonna have midterms or finals, and you’re also not gonna be quizzed on some absurd theory you studied in econ, but you will have to cooperate with your coworkers to get the job done. In fact, your ability to work with others is probably what will get you further in life. After all, no matter how smart a person is, I’d rather not work with a jerk. Remember to be friendly to others, as you don’t know who could be the one to secure your next job for you in the future.
Lastly, I’ve had ARBUS seminars throughout this semester. This is where Waterloo’s ARBUS alumni come and talk about their journey. Although they had different majors and certainly different journeys, there is one common factor amongst them: all of them said that school only gets you so far in life. The rest of your journey requires you to be brave, take risks, go on adventures and have fun. You’re gonna have to be brave enough to go through interviews, take risks and do things you’ve never done before. There are adventures out there for you to embark on, but will you be willing to take that first step? And last but not least, remember to have fun when you can, because soon you’ll realize that five years are over, and your university days are done. Continue pushing the boundaries of your comfort zone because nothing accomplished is satisfying when done inside of your comfort zone. Do new things because you don’t know what they could lead to: new hobbies, new friends, new connections, maybe another start-up? Trust me when I say that the thing I regret the most about high school is not spending more time with my friends and instead using all my time to study and get good grades.
With that said, I know finals are gonna be tough and scary. However, you’ve made it into the University of Waterloo, one of Canada’s best universities! You should be damn proud that you’re a warrior. Warriors don’t give up; they keep fighting and fighting even with their last ounce of energy to reach their goal. Sometimes they trip and fall, and sometimes it hurts them…a lot. In the end, when the battle’s been won, they’ll see that it was worth fighting for. So no matter what position you’re in right now, don’t give up on hope. I know the journey’s gonna be tough, but remember that you haven’t lost until you give up. And while you’re still fighting, you can still win.
So keep up with it Warriors, fight till the end!