Uni 101: The Freshers’ Handbook (Instructions on How to Adjust to Campus Life)

Transitioning from one environment to another is one of the most difficult things to do. Changes, no matter how good or bad, is often too hard to adjust to. Leaving home to a university environment feels similar. Sometimes, I wish someone had prepared me better for what’s to come. My religious parents did the best they could – my mother woke me earlier than usual the morning of my departure and handed me a King James Version bible with this nugget of wisdom: “Silver and gold I don’t have to give you but this word of God you were raised with. Keep it close, follow it’s instructions” and so forth. Well, she didn’t exactly say it like that in English, she’s an Igbo language dramatic kind of woman but you catch my drift.

While I appreciate her and every other person’s advice to me, nobody really gave me insights into what it’d really, truly be like. I’m writing this to share with you – from my personal experiences – what being a Fresher in a Nigerian University feels like, especially the very first few days.

1: Don’t trust strangers’ promises:

I met a girl and became friends with her when I came to pay my acceptance fees and do my first-year clearance. Then, I was desperately looking for accommodation. She promised to accommodate me when I’m ready to move in. She’d gotten a hostel room. I had high hopes that my accommodation problems had been resolved. I kept on calling her, keeping up with her and reminding her of her promise. She never went back on her promise until it was time to keep that promise. When I was ready to move in, I continued calling her except this time she refused to pick up. I became anxious. I think I kind of freaked her out with my persistent calls. This girl refused to pick up my calls. She left me stranded. I was about to start school with literally nowhere to stay. My situation was hopeless. I was disappointed and angry and confused. My dad put on his superman cape and flew out to resolve my problem for me as he should. He kept on asking around until a friend of a friend who knows a friend who knows a relative that is a lecturer in my school and had a free BQ room saved me. This was a very big lesson for me on the anatomy of human behavior. People change; they go back on their promises. They can ghost on you when you need them the most. So, learn how to count on yourself first and foremost. Don’t let what happened to me happen to you. 

There are certain things you should resolve as a fresher before starting school: Accommodation is the most important item on the list because you won’t live in the air.

2: Don’t travel back to school on Sunday:

Do you know those kinds of rookie mistakes that aren’t really a big deal but are so embarrassing they might as well be? Well, this is one of them. The first day(Monday) I resumed school as a fresher in UNN, I was lost and confused. I started late in January and most of the classes already took off with lots of assignments and classwork to do. I returned to school on a Sunday and was caught up with settling in, unpacking, arranging my stuff, getting to know my new roommates, etc that I never had time to go check out my classroom, time table, etc. I figured I’d be able to find the department easily by asking questions. My naive teenage self thought that every classroom will be in one building in the department. Until Monday morning and I got lost countless times trying to find my classes.

In the previous post, I talked about GS and elective courses, remember? (PS: It’d be nice if you go back and read the first post of this series. It’d help you understand clearer). Well turns out that University is not like secondary school. Teachers don’t come to find your classroom, in fact, there are various classes for each course. Say, you have Six classes for each day, you’d have to find six different locations for the classes. I had no idea university was structured like this. And Monday mornings are the busiest days in school. Students are rushing around to their classes; they do not usually have to answer confused, stranded, lost, on-the-verge-of-crying first-year students’ questions about their classrooms.

The buildings each class is located in are usually so vast one could get lost in there. For instance, the GS buildings have theatre A, B and sometimes C or D depending on different campuses. Each classroom looks the same. On my first day, I dashed into Theatre A thinking I finally made it until the lecture started and I grew even more confused as the lecturer taught. I had no idea what he was talking about. It sounded scientific and way above my intelligence level(I am no genius I admit). The more he talked, the less I understood. In secondary school, I won awards for my smartness. This shouldn’t be so hard. I struggled to make notes and follow what he was teaching. The guy sitting next to me was not as “serious” as I am. He was not taking notes. I glanced towards him and saw “200 level” written on his notebook. WHAT? I was sitting in the natural science class for second-year students! Little wonder I was struggling to understand the lecturer.

“Please, I think I’m in the wrong class. I’m supposed to be in GS 101 class” I whispered to him. He glanced at me pitifully and asked: “What department?” “Mass Communication” I replied. “Your class should be in Theatre B. This is A,” he said. “How do I find it?” I wanted to be sure so I don’t end up in the wrong class again. “You’ll find students wearing a sky blue shirt and black. That’s how you’d know”

Another rookie mistake we’d get into in the next paragraph! Point is: If I had gone back to school sooner, say Friday, I’d have tried to establish my feet firmly. I’d have searched for my classes, looked for my class rep and gotten the class timetable. It takes a lot of time to settle in school, going back on time will help you a lot. 

3: Gather all the information you need: 

I had no idea that we were supposed to wear a uniform on Mondays. That’s on me. Another mistake because I didn’t ask enough questions and I didn’t gather enough information about all I need to know about the school, my faculty, and the department. It is very vital that you ask questions, join all the social media groups you can find, drop your questions as comments on these pages. I know that you might get lots of wrong information online but at least you’d also get a certain percentage of the right information. 

4: Attend all your orientation programs: 

Every school organizes orientation programs for their freshers, be sure to attend all of them – school, faculty and departmental. Those are mind-numbingly boring but you never can tell what information you might pick up. Lots of important information are often shared there. And as a fresher, you need all the information you can get so hunt them. 

5: Be careful with building your social circles:

In most universities, there’s a popular slang called “October rush”. I don’t know how functional it still is recently but it is that period when returning students(boys especially) try to “help” first-year girls. Freshers are incredibly naive. People will try to take advantage of you. In my first year, I trusted the wrong persons a lot. I can still recall the “friends” I let into my life because I thought I needed a social life. The most incredible thing about maturing is that you are allowed to make mistakes. You can learn from those mistakes but sometimes we make grave mistakes that can destroy us. Try not to make grave mistakes. Be careful of those you let into your life. Be wary of places you go to. You’d be so curious to go to all those popular places that you might let your guard down. Please don’t. Have fun but in a careful way.