September 10, 2012 marks possibly the last first day ever of my undergraduate career. I am still trying to figure out if I’m happy about my university career coming to an end, or maybe a little sad about it. Perhaps it will remain a bittersweet moment for now.

Saying that I’m in fourth year sounds extremely weird. I feel old, to say the least. I feel scared, to say a little more. I still remember my first day – walking up the stairs of the Museum subway stop onto the sidewalk, walking timidly towards St. Michael’s College and smelling the polluted yet wonderful smell of my city, and hearing shouting, drums, chants, talking, and very loud music. As I walked my little 17-year-old, sheltered, private school self to my first day of Frosh not knowing what to expect, it is safe to say that I was scared – very scared. Now that I’m in fourth year, it is not the university environment that scares me, but the real world. It is so weird how the place that I once feared to enter has become the place I fear to leave.

Enough of my personal reflection.

The topic of this post first occurred to me on the third day of school this year when one of my professors asked each person in the class to turn to the person next to them and share his/her method of keeping up with school. The 2nd year female who I had just met turned to me and said, “Well since you’re in fourth year, tell me what you do.” At that moment it hit me: I’m in fourth year. I am an experienced university student. I GOT THIS. As the week continued, this thought stuck with me and, as I thought about it more, I thought it would be a great idea to make my first post an informative one about techniques for keeping up with school. This post is not only for the younger students but for everyone – maybe I can even teach the fourth and fifth years something new! (more…)