Stories of the First-Year Experience

Sue Campbell (Professor - Faculty of Law)

I have been teaching first year Law students for more than 20 years and the problems they experience are pretty much the same as those experienced by first year University students everywhere. Students who arrive at University from school are frequently intimidated by the very size of Monash, both physical and in population. It's daunting to try and find your way around, from lecture theatre to tutorial room, from one building to another on the other side of the campus. There are too many people everywhere and of course they all look as if they know exactly what they're doing and where they're going.

So the first thing a new student should do is to get the map of the campus from the Orientation kit and do a practice run, navigating your way around. If you can't do this before the first week of classes starts, try and allow a few extra minutes to get to your first class, so you don't arrive anxious and feeling that you have just blown your entire career by missing the lecturer's introductory welcome!

Secondly, concentrate on finding "groups" to which you belong. These may be groups of students from your old school (it doesn't matter if they weren't your friends at school - at least you know their names and faces); groups from your first tutorial or people from a club you want to join. If you can systematically identify a small number of people whom you know, this will help overcome the feeling of being one individual lost in a vast institution. After the first two or three weeks, you'll be surprised at how much you feel you belong.

As far as classes and subjects are concerned, the primary rule is, Don't panic! If the subjects you have chosen don't seem to be what you expected them to be, don't rush to change them. The first few weeks of any subject are often very introductory and the lectures may not get to the real issues that interest you immediately. Speak to your lecturer about what to expect for the whole of first semester, before making any rash decisions. Better still, try and speak to a student who has done that subject.

Similarly, the whole style of lectures may be off-putting, in contrast with school classes. If you are in a class of 100 students or more, it is likely that it is a real lecture - the teacher talks and you try and take notes. If you are having trouble working out how to take appropriate notes, speak to a tutor, or ask the University Counselling Service (in the Campus Centre) about classes on note-taking.

Which leads to the single most important rule for surviving University - ASK for help or advice. We are a large institution and it is often not possible to recognise that an individual student is not coping, unless you tell us. So speak to your lecturer, your tutor, the Student organisation in your Faculty, older students, Student Advisers or anyone who has the experience to be able to offer advice. You should never be embarrassed about asking for advice or help and you'll be surprised how willing most staff, both academic and general, are to help. There is a range of services for students within Faculties and across the University as a whole and some of them will be able to give you useful advice and information for your particular problem. But they can't help if you don't ask.

Even if your problems are personal ones, don't be embarrassed to see someone about them. We can't

necessarily solve them for you, but we may be able to help you adjust your workload, or give you an extension on your essay, or suggest you apply for Special Consideration before exams.

Finally, if you decide that the course you have chosen is definitely not for you, or that you simply do not want to be at University this year, again the rule is simple - talk to someone. Get advice. There may be options you don't know about. But if you do decide to leave, please tell us. You are much better off formally discontinuing your course, or a subject, than simply disappearing to leave an inevitable fail result against your name.