Tips for Adjusting to University Life

The first few weeks on campus can be a lonely period. There may be concerns about forming friendships. When new students look around, it may seem that everyone else is self-confident and socially successful. The reality is that everyone is having the same concerns.

If they allow sufficient time, students usually find peers in the university to provide structure and a valuable support system in the new environment. The important thing for the student to remember in meeting new people is to be oneself.

Meaningful, new relationships should not be expected to develop overnight. It took a great deal of time to develop intimacy in high school friendships; the same will be true of intimacy in university friendships.
Increased personal freedom can feel both wonderful and frightening. Students can come and go as they choose with no one to "hassle" them. At the same time, things are no longer predictable. The strange environment with new kinds of procedures and new people can create the sense of being on an emotional roller-coaster. This is normal and to be expected.
It is unrealistic to expect that roommates will be best friends. Roommates may work out mutually satisfying living arrangements, but the reality is that each may tend to have his or her own circle of friends.

University classes are a great deal more difficult than high school classes. This means the student needs to follow the course outlines and keep up with the readings. The student must do the initiating. If a class is missed, it is up to the student to borrow lecture notes from someone who was present.

"It never hurts to party once in a while"

Protest Ended

On Monday morning, 18 February 2008, approximately 140 students engaged in a peaceful protest on the Pietermaritzburg campus to highlight what they regarded as insufficient accommodation in University residences.
After negotiations, 66 students are being allocated accommodation at a privately-run residence in town (25 rooms) and in residences on campus where places that were allocated but not taken up have been released (41 rooms). Some students will also be sharing accommodation.
It was also agreed that further accommodation would be located by the end of the first week of March 2008. Of the 140 students on the list presented to the Department of Student Housing, it would appear that only 56 students had actually applied for accommodation for 2008.
The protest is over and the University is committed to ensuring that the matter is resolved timeously and effectively.
Professor Dasarath Chetty
Pro-Vice-Chancellor(Corporate Relations)