As we go through another welcome week it becomes quite apparent in conversations with new students that their motivation for coming to University and joining a course is not singular.  Of course there are some very clear objectives that are shared across like the interest for the subject and the employability afterwards for underlying those there are so many different personal motivations and aspirations attached.  

In the eyes of our new cohort, I can see a variety of responses, the eagerness to learn the joy of studying, the expectation of belonging and the anticipation of ordering their lives across the University life, just to name but a few.  

In conversation, I see these attributes in a different light.  “I want to belong but I am shy”, “I wish to learn but I am worried about learning” “I want to engage but I am concern with my writing”. This is the soft underbelly of becoming a student; because in education our own insecurities are playing up.  These little devils, who rest on the back of the head of many people who doubt themselves and worry them.

One of the greatest fears I hear and see been rehearsed before me is that of intellectual ability.  This is one of those issues that becomes a significant barrier to many people’s fear when joining a University course.  Of course the intellectual level of study is high. There are expectations of the degree of knowledge a student will build on and the way they will be able to utilise that level of knowledge.  After all a University is an institution of High Learning. The place where disciplines are explored in totality and subjects are taught holistically. Nevertheless the University is not the end of one’s education but rather the door to a new dimension of learning.  

For myself and many of my colleagues what makes this process incredibly exciting is to see those eyes of the new students across the years brighten up, as they “get it” as the penny drops and they connect different parts of knowledge together.  Once people reach that part of their educational journey realise that coming to University was not simply an means to an end but something beyond that; the joy of lifelong learning.

As this is a early session, I shall address the intellectual fear.  The greatest skills that any student need to bring with them in class is patience and passion.  Passion for the subject; this is so important because it will sustain during the long cold winter days when not feeling 100%.  Patience is equally important; to complete the course, needs plenty of hours out of class and a level of concentration that allows the mind to focus.  Any successful student can testify to the long hours required to be in the library or at home going over the material and making sense of some challenging material.  This ultimately unravels the last of the requirements, that of perseverance. It is through trial and error, rising up to a challenge that each student thrives.

So for those who joined us this year, welcome.  The door to an exciting new world is here, to those returning, we shall pick up from where we left off and those who completed, hopefully University has now opened your eyes to a new world.