One minute I was moving into my dorm room and getting hissed at by geese, the next, I’m back home and working full-time as a med lab assistant. In a blink of an eye, over 5 years have past and I now find myself with a Bachelors Degree in General Science with a Biology minor and a Medical Laboratory Assistant Technician Diploma.
I can remember how excited and anxious I was starting my post-secondary journey. There were so many new things to learn and so many possibilities…it was honestly overwhelming, especially cause I was uncertain about what I wanted to do with my life. It’s so crazy how over 5 years have past since I started my undergrad degree at the University of Waterloo (2015-2019), and over a year since I started my diploma program at a private college (2019-2020). It’s been an absolute roller coaster of an experience, but these past years have been an incredibly valuable and rewarding time in my life.
As someone how constantly tells themselves that they are a lifelong student, I am constantly learning from my experiences and learning from others and their experiences, and I’d like to share some of the lessons I’ve learnt over the course of my post-secondary experience. I’m incredibly grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve had in my life and acknowledge how fortunate I am to have had these opportunities.
Here are 5 lessons from my 5 years in post-secondary schools
1. Be Aware of Your Mental Health
In my opinion, this is so important and crucial, especially in post-secondary school. I learnt this the hard way; I didn’t realize how bad my mental health had gotten until just before my last year of university. After watching YouTube videos about mental health and the struggles other have went through, I came to realize I was not in a good mental state. To sum it up, I was really depressed and it had gotten to the point where I was numb or on edge al the time. After realizing this, I made it my mission to get myself to a better state and keep it stable from there-on-out.
Because of this realization, my last year of university felt better and my time obtaining my diploma was even better. My head space was a lot better. I want to say that it has gotten better since then, a couple of hiccups (especially cause of the pandemic), but overall it’s been okay!
Please take the time to step back and take note of your mental health. Post-secondary school, and life in general can be a lot at times. To quote my post on World Mental Health Day:
“Remember that it’s important to get the help we need on our journey towards good mental health, and to support the journeys of those close to us. Learning to accept and learn about our thoughts and feelings, and how to cope are small steps towards a better mind set and overall wellbeing. Opening the conversation on mental health and wellbeing can be powerful, because sometimes just a small convo. to acknowledge and validate those feelings can help others feel safe, accepted and less burdened.”
2. Try to Talk to People
Talking to people can be really hard to do, especially if you’re a quiet or timid person, or just someone who doesn’t want to really talk to anyone. Honestly, I feel that.
Trust me when I say, by stepping out of your comfort zone and trying to talk to others, can lead to some pretty great relationships and experiences. The first step you can take is just sitting next to someone in class that you’ve noticed is alone too, and just introduce yourself or ask a question (or don’t introduce yourself and just take time to get used to each other). No need to make big steps. Hopefully, you’ll be glad you made the first steps to getting to know people.
3. Get Involved!
I was a really quiet kid growing up, and what has helped me throughout the years to get out of my comfort zone and feeling more comfortable with my environment, has been joining clubs and volunteering. So going into university, living in a different city, and only having a hand full of high school friends attend the same university as me… it was definitely stepping out of my comfort zone. So I decided to get involved, especially in my last year of university. I have met some amazing people volunteering at places like the Science Coffee and Donut shop on campus, being apart of the UW Filippino Students’ Association, and a number of other clubs that I was interested in. If you end up liking it, you can be apart of the clubs or volunteer for a long time! For example, I was a volunteer at the Coffee and Donut Shop from September 2016 – April 2019!
I have learned so many valuable skills and just things in general from getting involved in these clubs that can be transferrable to future jobs and projects. I’m grateful to have attended a university that had so many clubs to get involved in the things you love. Not only did I meet a lot of amazing people, but I’ve made some great friends through these clubs.
4. Find a Routine that Works for You
If you’re a student, you’ve probably watched those productivity videos, study videos, routine videos, or have seen or even follow a number of student/study blogs over on Instagram. There are a number of tips and routines from those account you can follow to try and organize your student life. I’ve tried so many the past 5 years. there were a lot of tips that have helped me but there were a lot of times were I got frustrated when a routine or a tip didn’t work out for me.
What I ended up doing was creating a routine for myself based off all the advice I’ve learnt off of the internet. Rather following some influencers routine down to the T, I created something that works for me and have tailored these tips and routines to work for me and my needs and wants. Not only did this help me become more productive, it also helped me realize that I was setting unrealistic expectations for myself and trying to be someone I was not.
5. Be in the Moment
Time flies by sooo fast. My first three years of post-secondary school is a blur as I kept myself so busy with school work, studying, clubs, worrying, and working. I didn’t even take the summers off! I took at least 2 courses during the summer terms too rather than having a vacation. I never really took the chance to step back and relax, and enjoy my time.
My last year of undergrad, I really took a deep breath and tried to live in the moment. It was my last year and I wasn’t going to have it become a blur of memories. I’ve tried to live by this since. Try to live in the moment while you’re in school. It’ll fly by so fast.
So, those are some of the big takeaways from my time in post-secondary. Most of the lesson I’ve learnt was from my undergrad, but these lesson have helped me have a better experience when obtaining my MLA/T diploma. There’s so much pressure and it can feel like you’re juggling a shit load sometimes, but it really is a wonderful time in your life if you let it be. Looking back, I have so many great memories and am grateful for all the experiences I’ve had.
Let me know down below what some of the lesson you’ve learnt through your time in school!
Thanks for reading 🙂
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