Why university?

Theuns Eloff

The fact that you have opened this book shows that you are interested in going to university. But what does that mean? Why would that be one of the best decisions you will make in your entire life?

The word “university” derives from the same Latin word as “universe” – the whole of creation. At university, a whole new world will open up to you, and you will be able to study parts of it. University life will take you on a journey of discovery of something bigger than yourself, something far bigger than the world you have known thus far in your life and in your experience.

In the first place, the university experience will let you discover more about yourself: personally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. One day, when you look back on this phase of your life, you will probably say that these were the greatest, happiest and most important forming years of your life. You will form lifelong friendships and will probably also meet your life partner.

In the second place, university will let you discover more about the world. Not only will you add immensely to your knowledge about nature, human beings and the world in general (“facts”), but you will also learn how to perceive life, history and the world in general (“perspective”). After university life has come to an end, you would be able to understand the world (the universe) as an interrelated system, something that will be invaluable on your life’s journey.

In short: university life will allow you to learn more about yourself and the world. It will allow you to grow into a mature adult that can use knowledge responsibly by contributing to the improvement of our world.

Discovering more about yourself

A new living environment

Whether you are going to live in a university residence, or in a flat or in a student commune, you will experience a new living environment. Perhaps for the first time in your life, you will live among new and different people.

Sharing a room or a flat might be a new experience for you. For instance, not to listen to your music too loudly so as to disturb a roommate, will need a new measure of courteousness (yes, even an iPod can be too loud!). You may of necessity have less privacy than you have had in your parents’ house. This will take some getting used to, especially if you have never lived in a residence. In most cases you can’t choose your roommate and you have to learn to live with someone you (initially) don’t know at all. This is mostly a steep learning curve. In addition, most residences have rules (some of which may seem strange at first) that first year students must learn to understand. Life is the same everywhere: newcomers must adapt to their environment, and not the other way around. How you adapt to all of this, will teach you a lot about yourself …

In short, your place of residence will be quite different from your parents’ house. Adapting to this may be easy for some, but difficult for others. The best way to manage this is to approach these changes with an open mind, and make the best of it. This is also part of your self-discovery.

A new study environment

A totally different aspect of university life is the routine of attending lectures, and the novelty of “free” time during the day. What you do with the time when you don’t have lectures, is very important. You can use it to study in the library or your room; you can use it to socialise with your friends and to have a cup of coffee. But the most important thing – and something that requires some self discipline – is to prepare for your next lecture!

A new social environment

Perhaps the most important change is the intensive social experience that awaits you. You will come into contact with many more people than you used to do at school. These include other students in your residence, commune or flat, students who take the same course as you, student leaders and lecturers. Most university residences or societies have a strong sense of cohesion. Your participation in sport or cultural activities will also create a sense of social cohesion. All of this forms the nucleus of university social life and will let you discover the social side of your personality. You will have the opportunity to meet and get to know new people and forge strong friendships.

This, however, causes you to face certain crucial choices, especially who you choose to make friends with. It can happen that a student makes the wrong choices in friends, and that those friendships ruin a study career or even one’s whole life. The same applies to relations with the opposite sex. Experience has shown that a high percentage of people who studied at university chose their life partners during their time of study. And this choice is fundamentally influenced by your circle of friends in your first year.

You also will be given the opportunity to participate in sport and cultural activities. It is important to take part in at least one sport or cultural activity. It immediately broadens your circle of potential friends and is an important builder of character. Just think of how difficult (but important!) it was at school to process losing a match or coming last in the competition of the debating society! And yet, sport and culture are great builders of a sense of belonging at university.

The discovery of social life at university is perhaps one of the most important and unique experiences that awaits you. For a few years you are pitched into a social cauldron with thousands of other students, like nowhere else in life. This can make you a better, more mature and wiser person – if you use the experience correctly.

In this regard, for some students, a new experience of diversity awaits. Although you may find that you have a lot in common with quite a number of fellow students, it is also true that you will be different from many. This “being different” may apply to race, language, gender, culture or religious views (to name but a few).

To be exposed to diversity has important educational value. South Africa has been called the “rainbow nation” and boasts eleven official languages! Therefore it is important for students to have contact with other parts of the (same) rainbow, because you will in later life work and live in that rainbow country. Many different languages can be heard on all university campuses throughout South Africa, some from Africa and quite a few from further abroad. The diversity experience at university is not limited to race, language and culture, but also includes political and religious beliefs.

It is important that one approaches the diversity experience with an open mind, without necessarily forfeiting your own views. Just as pebbles in a river mould and shape one another, so one person moulds and shapes the other. Your contact with students from diverse backgrounds is an important part of your educational experience for life.

In this regard, the Bill of Rights is important. One should approach diversity with respect, and in a spirit of equality and tolerance. Even though you may not agree with the view points and actions of others, you should leave room for diverse views and actions (within the boundaries of the law, of course!). It is also important to know what you believe and why you believe. This is again part of your self-discovery.

Discovering more about the world

While discovering new aspects about yourself and your interaction with other people, there is another aspect to university life that is even more life-changing. You will, in a very short space of time, discover more about the world around you than you thought possible.

Discovering masses of new knowledge and information

University is per definition a place where knowledge is generated, either as existing knowledge being transferred and studied or as new knowledge being explored. You will be amazed that you will, in a short time at university, learn more than during your whole school career! In some subjects you will have not only one, but several handbooks, supplemented by study guides.

It is important to remember that at university you will have to study by yourself. No more teachers and spoon-feeding of knowledge! Some universities use the term teaching-learning. The lecturer still “teaches” and leads, but the student must learn and study – especially given the massive amount of knowledge and information available electronically. Your knowledge experience will therefore also be a learning experience.

It is also important to remember that due to the “knowledge explosion” in the world today, one’s learning gets dated very quickly. Even though it may sound strange, you will, in the first few months of your employment again learn more in a short time than all the years at university! You are at university to learn how to learn, how to apply knowledge, how to solve problems – because this is what will be expected of you later in life. Remember that the tests and exams are simply ways to ascertain whether you have mastered this.

And in this regard, even though you have written and passed your matric exam recently, you will be confronted by how little you really know. You will experience an information “overdose”. But this is part of the excitement of the new knowledge experience. You will have many questions, and not all of those will be answered – this is part of life’s mystery.

Discovering a new world view

A number of years ago, a book with the title The World is Flat was published. The author (Thomas Friedman), makes the point that modern technology (and especially information technology) has made the world “smaller” by making the boundaries between countries and continents more flexible. Accountants in India do tax return forms for Americans – because they can do it cheaper than the Americans while the latter are sleeping!

During your years at university, you may have the same experience. Not only will you encounter a substantial number of international students from various continents, but you will also realise that knowledge and information are truly global and have no boundaries. Through the internet you can download information and articles from all across the world – in your room or in the library! Your world is much smaller and more accessible than that of your parents.

At the same time, you will discover where you (and your community) fit into the “bigger scheme of things”. You will discover that you are part of a specific university, a city/town, a country and a continent. It is indeed a new view of the world – the universitas!

Discovering a new financial world

Notwithstanding who pays for your tuition and accommodation (your parents, a bursary, a loan), university life brings with it a new financial discovery. Financially, you will be on your own – even though you may be able to fall back on your parents if things go terribly wrong. It is you who will have to take financial decisions and who will have to take responsibility for those decisions. An example: few students have the money to buy all the handbooks that are used in your studies. You have to make a choice: either you buy (some of) your books second hand, or you share with others or you use the library. The same choice may apply to a cell phone, food and recreation.

If you waste your money on unimportant things, you will pay a price. It may even lead to your being forced to drop out of university. Studies have shown that lack of funding is one of the single most frequent reasons for students dropping out of university. Many students do part-time work and this is an important part of financial independence. But part-time work is not always available. It is therefore very important to manage your money well and in a constructive way, so that you can continue and complete your studies.

One aspect of student life that has important financial implications is your academic progress. Some universities have incentive schemes for students who perform academically. These students then receive “discount” (up to 70%) on their tuition fees for the next year. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true. Students who fail modules and must repeat them cost their parents or themselves more money. And such students also cost the university money, because the university receives less funding from the state for repeaters.

Therefore: begin with the basics by ensuring that you make good academic progress. In this way, the rands and cents will look after themselves. And remember, one of the most important reasons for going to university and getting an education and a degree is that you will be better remunerated when you go into the world of work. Studies worldwide have shown that graduates’ remuneration is much higher than those who do not go to university.

Discovering more about religion and the diversity of belief systems

With the greater diversity awaiting you at university, there will also be a greater diversity of religions and belief systems. You have, by this time in your life, developed your own religious or other belief system. Your religious customs and traditions are known to you and you know what to expect. Most religions and churches are very active on our university campuses, and they are afforded enough space and opportunity to serve their members.

You will, however, discover that a community of faith on a university campus is “different” from that of your home. For instance, for many Christian young people there is a different “feel” to the university religious experience, and this demands an open mind. Many churches have camps for first year students to help them to adapt to this new experience and university life in general.

In addition, you will come into contact with fellow students who belong to a different church or faith. The principles mentioned with regard to diversity are also applicable here. Respect and tolerance are non-negotiable. Contact with students who have different belief systems need not make you worried or anxious, as it is part of the diversity that is South Africa. But it will demand that you will, on an ongoing basis, give account of what you believe. If handled correctly, this will strengthen your faith and spirituality and may even make you discover a new side of yourself.

Discovering that more freedom brings more responsibility

All this emphasises that you are on the verge of a very exciting time of your life. But in all the examples mentioned above, you will have to make a choice. It is a time of choices, but then the right choices.

You will have more freedom. For example, you will be able decide for yourself whether you want to get up and attend lectures, or whether you will use money that is meant for your studies on other things. It may seem that boundaries have suddenly fallen away.

Truth is that the greater freedom will also bring greater responsibility. You will have to take responsibility for your choices, including the wrong ones you will make (almost inevitably). And this is part of the university discovery: to make mistakes and learn from them – and in the process to make better choices and fewer mistakes. And this is the best way to learn and prepare for your life after university.

The kind of choices you will have to make include all the aspects mentioned above and more. Your university journey of discovery will force you to make these choices and to learn from them. And even though you may have views on a score of issues already, some of these will change during your study years. And this is because you will start thinking (even more) for yourself, and discovering more about yourself and the world.

In deciding to go to university, you will make a life choice. It will have many kinds of consequences, all of them having to do with preparing you better for the “university of life”.