A guide to making the most of your university life
Sometimes, we might wonder about our future paths that we could take on in life. This includes things like working for a dream company and creating your own company from scratch. In this article, I would be showing you how to survive university life, as well as how to make the best use out of it. Please note that some things that I write can be subjective, and may differ according to your university choice, major, and current situation. This article is based purely on my observation and experience while I had in university.
Let me introduce myself
So, before we start, I would like to introduce myself first. My name is Kevin Abram, graduated with a bachelor’s degree from BINUS International University located in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2020 majoring in Business Information Systems. I’m currently doing an internship at PwC Indonesia, and have almost 2 years of experience in iOS Engineering/Development in some companies such as LINE Indonesia as shown in the picture above :)
Introduction on the University life
University life can be challenging, and yet would give you one of the best experience in your life. This is accompanied by some interesting projects and creating new connections as part of your personal growth. So without further ado, here are some tips or my personal advice that you may find useful in surviving or making the best use of your university life overall:
1. Try to do your best in the first few semesters
Trying to do your best means that you will need to get the highest possible GPA that you could do in the first few semesters. The reason I said this is because the first few semesters are mostly the introduction of the major that you are taking and some of the subjects that you learned here will either be easy or be a refresher on the things that you learned at high school.
Getting a high GPA on the first few semesters would certainly help to maintain your grades in the later semesters, and prevent it from going down too much, especially at harder subjects that could impact your grades drastically in the future. This also gives you some space to relax or to prevent burnouts in later semesters as your later semesters usually would be full of networking, volunteering, internships, and other activities.
Some advice on achieving a high GPA is to try to make the learning as fun as possible, for example, I used to create a very simple RPG game during my programming class instead of memorizing the important concepts, which is fun and gave me a practical knowledge too.
Another piece of advice that I can give is to suit your own learning style. Not all of us are good at reading books for long hours. As I would like to admit, I’m really bad at understanding concepts just from reading books. Try to suit the best type of learning for you. For example, if you have a verbal style of learning, you can explain to yourself the things you are trying to learn to remember the important concepts for the upcoming exams. Also, try not to cramp your study in a single day or a single night as it would not work well, but it is better to revise the knowledge that you learned at your university one day at a time and give your brain a break at times for better memorization.
2. GPA is important, but do not cheat your grades
We do know that GPA is important, as it will give you the upper hand during CV/Resume screening in your early career. However, it is important that you limit yourself to cheating or trying ways to ace the subject without any study since it could impact your later career. For a fact, companies will also test and interview you after you passed the CV /Resume screening even for an internship position. GPA may help you in the first layer of the recruiting process, but not so much in the later parts of the company recruiting process.
Continuing on GPA, even though it is important, can also be a red flag if you achieve a high GPA but you did not do any volunteering, internships, or any other opportunities that would give you an edge over other candidates. Keep in mind that it is better to keep a healthy balance between a high GPA and a couple of opportunities you get in your university so that the recruiter would be sure that you are not the type who only learns by the book.
3. University courses can be outdated, try to explore by yourself
While getting high grades in your GPA is important, it is also important to assess whether the knowledge that you get in your university is up to date with the current advancements. Some knowledge, especially when it comes to technology, can change very fast, and you would need to keep up with the current trends to give you a competitive edge over other students. Try to do some research when you have some free time, and read news on the current advancements that are currently happening around you.
To add, you may also need to deepen the skills that you acquire in the courses at the university by yourself to be able to apply to some opportunities that require some specialization. For example, during my case, the mobile course I get at my university is only the foundation and mostly only exploring the basics. Learning iOS Engineering/Development and practicing by myself outside of the university certainly helps me to get opportunities related to iOS in some companies, which I may not get by only relying on the basics that are taught at my university.
4. Make use of your university’s connection and partners
One of my personal experiences in one of these partnerships is that they may give you some shortcuts or easier selection process throughout the recruitment process as a sign of trust with the quality of the students in your university. Please note that GPA, volunteers, and other opportunities is still important throughout the recruitment process as they would want to see if you are a good fit for the company. Additionally, it is better to always do your best and not cause any issue with the company you are working for as it could impact the name of your university either negatively or positively. You are actively carrying the name of your university wherever you go.
However, it is better to prioritize the things that you wanted to achieve or what company you want to work for, rather than relying on the partners that are available to you. For example, if you really wanted to do data analytics and there are no partner companies that provide that opportunity. It is better to try applying manually to that position to some companies, then later use the partner connections as a secondary option in case if you did not get the opportunity you wanted as a backup plan.
5. Actively network and volunteer
Networking and volunteering are important for your soft-skills development as well as a point that could be added to your CV/Resume to attract recruiters. It is a good idea to try to network with the people that you meet at the job, work, or any other place. The reason is that they can recommend you, or give you references if in case the company they are working for needs a person with your skill-set and capabilities, that opens up new opportunities as well. This also applies to making startups as well, building networks are the key to finding great people to contribute to your idea.
Additionally, volunteering is a good plus point to your CV/Resume since it could convey indirectly that you have some empathy towards other people for events that have a relation with charity or helping unfortunate people. All in all, volunteering is a virtuous act that can improve your soft skills and give you a bigger insight into what is happening in the world around us.
Conclusion
To conclude, these are the advice that I could give to the people that are currently pursuing university. Keep in mind that everything that I wrote here is purely based on my personal observation, and it may differ from what you are currently experiencing in your university. For all of you who are currently pursuing your university life, I wish you all the best and have fun!
