Student Profile: Stuff about Dana
in the arts | advice | life in university | who I am
>I’ve been down a long path to choose my current major. I started out with Biology and loved that. Can’t remember the next one, then history, to poli sci, and international studies…Almost every thing I took I loved.
Then I studied in Israel for one year. By the time I came back I had to pick something and was running out of time. I took a few Linguistics courses and realized I had finally found my major.
>The best thing about being an Arts student is that your education is very broad. You get to take courses in many different areas. I now have a much bigger picture. I have a better understanding of politics, history, business and religion. This is great because I like Education if I end up teaching one day I’ll have a lot to draw on. A broad education prepares you to work in the world, but it also teaches you how to live in the world.
>In the first couple of years, the hardest thing was studying in so many different areas (with all those breadth requirements), without a whole lot of overlap in my courses I had to learn a lot of new terms and ways of thinking.
>Go and sit in on a fourth year university lecture. I went once with a friend to sit in on some classes. This showed me that it was not as hard as I first thought it would be and it inspired me to press on.
>Get involved in some clubs in areas that interest you…then you will meet people with similar interests. The balance you will find from getting involved will help you get through the rest of your university degree.
>Don’t panic. It’s a huge transition in first year. Most people have to study a lot to do well in university. A lot of students who get straight A’s in high-school without studying find that they suddenly have to start. It makes sense – all the students who did well in highschool are all now competing with each other. It’s sort of humbling.
Don’t fall into the pattern of just trying to make the grade. School’s a lot more enjoyable then.
>In many classes, there’s a lot of areas where there isn’t a right answer, and there’s a lot of ambiguity, so you have to learn how to think critically.
>One of the hardest things for me in adjusting to university was the pressure of trying to do well. It wasn’t that the work was harder, or what the teachers were teaching, but the workload was so much greater. I couldn’t spend the same amount of time that I could on high school homework.
>The best thing about university is that you’re here because you want to be here and you’re taking courses you want, and students’ relationship with profs are more mature, more equal.
>The constant pressure and deadlines are not so enjoyable. But they push me to function at a level that I wouldn’t normally, and this is good.
>Since being in university, I’ve changed. I’m more organized now. I’m probably better able to deal with stress because I’ve had more chance to practice. I’m better able to make decisions. I’m more able to argue and explain different thoughts, points of view.
>Before university, there were things that I wanted to do, but I wasn’t sure how to begin. I wanted to communicate good news with people as many forms and ways possible. Now that seems more achievable.
>University is teaching me how to communicate, to write and to understand where people are coming from. Whatever is my heart’s desire and whatever I’m supposed to be doing, now I’m one step closer.
>When I’m hanging out, you’ll find me talking on the phone, talking to people, reading biographies. I love skiing and any team sports too.
>I’d love to visit China to see its beautiful landscapes. I’d also love to see Russia and Ireland.
>I think I have a lot of endurance. In elementary and high school I was never really a fast runner but I excelled in long distance running. All my life I’ve been one of the last people to leave the exam room. But I can stick with something a long time. I guess it matches my personality as well.
>I wish I wasn’t such a slave to my marks. That characteristic comes out in other areas of my life as I’m results oriented. I want to be content in who I am. I want to be able to be my best, no matter what the results are, to be able to appreciate everything there is to appreciate.
>The most difficult things I’ve ever done are getting my degree, breaking up with a serious boyfriend, and coming back from Israel (because I really wanted to stay there).
>Knowing God personally makes life worth living because there’s a time in my life I wasn’t sure I could continue living.
Dana’s story of overcoming a destructive lifestyle of addiction
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- Can you state your life purpose in a sentence?
- How do you find meaning in life?
- Back to student profiles
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