#upper years

Each and every one of us have come a long way since university has begun whether that was this year, two years ago, or even longer. Mistakes are inevitable, but some are avoidable. Before you do anything you wish you had not, read what some of SAF’s very own upper years have come to regret.

Michael Leung; 2A AFM:

I would have liked to join more non-SAF clubs and events in my first year to meet more students and gain other experiences. As much as I love everything SAF has given, it would have been nice to try other things.

Terrance Kwok; 4B AFM:

I regret everything I ate in first year.

Quinntin Fong; 4A Math/CA:

I regret letting myself get by in first year courses through regurgitation without actually understanding the material. I also regret sleeping on the housing situation because subletting is a pain…

Shyam Venkatraman; 2A AFM:

A couple things I regret as an upper year are not studying enough and underestimating the difficulty of the work in first year. This made it a lot more challenging to expand my opportunities and get involved in academically-related initiatives. Also, I regret downloading Call of Duty 4 on my computer which consumed my days and nights.

Anonymous:

AFM is truly a program that places an overwhelming precedence on the power of networking. Reminiscing now, I realize that this is a microcosm of the real business world. Not capitalizing on my opportunities to make as many connections as possible would be my biggest regret. It’s not about WHAT you know; it’s WHO you know. Your name is really one of the only things that differentiate you from the thousands of other students hunting for that job.

Bonnie Li; 2A CFM:

I regret studying in groups too much! Sometimes it's good to share knowledge, but I noticed that everyone studies at his/her own pace. It's also less pressure when you don't compare yourself with others.

Koren Leung; 2A AFM:

I wish I lived in REV. Grades matter, but remember to have fun too. First year is all about finding your own identity and trying new things!

Christopher Cheung; 3A CFM:

The one thing I regret most was staying inside my comfort bubble by sticking only with my friends from high school, playing video games, and watching TV in my room. I missed out on many opportunities to meet new people and try new things. In later years, I decided to join clubs and make new relationships. As a result, I’ve been able to make much more out of my university experience, and it’s been awesome.

Ronald Chui; 4A AFM:

Joining UW AFSA. Oh, and telling you my regrets. But mostly UW AFSA.

Anonymous:

Looking back, my biggest regret about first year is that I was too uptight about school, marks, and the image I conveyed. I realize now that first year was the time to get out, enjoy life, meet new people, and try new things; however at that time, that part of me was overpowered by worries about my future. But hey, it’s never too late to make up for that!

Oh hun, I felt that fear too. I think we all do. But there's a reason why you don't start off with that. Think of it like high school, you don't start off with calculus, you need to work your way up to it. You don't start off with 500-1000 pages of readings a week, you work your way up to it. 

Well, if we discount my first year POL108 course where we went straight out the gate with a 25 page paper plus a 10 page annotated bibliography, but there's a reason that course no longer exists :P (and yet i came out alive pretty well from that course :P)

You suffer from a syndrome similar to mine: futuritis. Instead of focusing on what you can control in the future, you're worrying about things that have yet to come your way. By focusing on your present, and doing the best with your first year courses, you can see how to handle your assignments and how to accept more of a workload as you progress in your years. Remember, should you ever encounter difficulties there are profs, TAs, academic dons, writing lab centres, peers, and me that you can turn to. You are never alone in this process, and I'm glad you sought me out now. 

You'll find out that writing long papers aren't that bad. If you're anything like me, you always write more than what's expected of you to begin with, now with 25-30 page papers you can do that and then some :P You have narrower topics and you can go much more into depth about that the things which impassion you. 

I wish you all the best, and let me know if there's anything else I can do for you.

With love and hope,