Published on March 9, 2016 | by Gavin Yakuse-Duffy Photography by Greg Anderson
0Guelph-Humber helps students transition
The transition to university is not easy for most students and many struggle with stress during their first-year. The first-year experience program at the University of Guelph-Humber is making the transition easier for its students.
The program starts during the summer by connecting new students to upper-year students called first-year experience leaders, said student life and alumni coordinator Brenley Devlin.
Devlin said the idea behind the program is to provide first-year students with a mentor, who has already gone through the struggles of first-year.
The program runs throughout the school year and aims to make the transition to post-secondary school less stressful for students, Devlin said. This is accomplished by keeping students in contact with their leaders throughout the year, she added.
One of the leaders for the justice studies program, Natalie Anteby said, “The role of an FYE leader is to be a positive role-model for their first-year students and help them transition to university.”
First-year student Sarah Mohammed said the leaders help to make the transition easier, by posting reminders about what is going on around campus and information on topics first-year students are not familiar with, such as when tuition is due. That helps leaders help to keep students on track, which makes school less stressful, she said.
Anteby who has been involved since the program started two years ago, explained if one of her students is struggling with school she will work one-on-one with that student to improve their skills. In the first year she said she worked with 27 students and this year she worked with 45.
Transfer student from Humber College Tania Lain said in college she was an honour roll student, but has seen her marks drop drastically since coming to university. “It’s been really difficult to see my marks drop.”
She explained even though the transition has been stressful, having Anteby as her leader has helped. “If I’m struggling with anything, Natalie is always there to help me,” she added.
Upper-year leaders are here to show that there needs to be a balance between work and the social aspects of university to be successful, said Third-year student Anteby. “If I find a student is stressed, I will say to them, ‘let’s go to the gym’ or ‘let’s go to a school event’.”
Anteby wished Guelph-Humber had this program when she started university. “When I started here, I had to figure everything out for myself, which caused me a lot of anxiety.” The program helps with that anxiety, because students already know some fellow students by the time class starts and they know a little about how the school works, she added.
Lain said, “as an older student I find it difficult at times to connect with people so much younger, but the first-year experience program helps me connect a bit better with other students.”
The first-year experience runs workshops throughout the school year, hosted by the learning support peers, in order to help with things new students struggle with, said Devlin. The workshops are held monthly with topics ranging from presentation skills to stress management.
The workshops are great for providing helpful tips on how to be successful in school, said first-year student Mohammed. She added she attends the workshops whenever possible.
The final workshop for this semester will take place on March 22, in room 301 and the focus is on stress management skills.
Image courtesy of Greg Anderson according to license.
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