Set goals to not... go to college

High school students learn about schools, majors and student life at the 2024 University and College Admissions Consulting Day in Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: DUYEN PHAN

Entering university, many new students are confused and bewildered because everything is completely different from high school. Many consultants need to determine their goals right from the beginning of their first year to avoid paying the price by dropping out of school halfway or changing majors or… studying to graduate.

College life is often rich with extracurricular activities, fun and other social activities. Therefore, students can easily get distracted, leading to worrying consequences.

In addition to studying, students can participate in extracurricular activities to experience and find their own strengths and weaknesses. In addition, it is necessary to develop soft skills such as foreign languages, technology, etc. throughout the learning process to meet the requirements and recruitment criteria of businesses upon graduation.

MSc. DUONG TRAN MINH DOAN

waste of time

In college, NC (a student at Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry) was no longer controlled by his family. Not knowing what to do, and without a specific plan, C.'s habit was to surf Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

C. said that normally in the evening, C. would lie down and surf social networks until about 3am. Because he stayed up late and woke up early, the next day C. was always tired and often skipped school. If he went to school, he would sleep in class.

This happened repeatedly throughout the semester, causing C., who was an excellent student in high school, to fail many subjects. In addition, due to constantly staying up late and eating unhealthy food, C. was diagnosed with kidney stones by the doctor.

Similarly, NT (4th year student at the School of Tourism - Hue University) regretted wasting time in the first years of university due to not balancing activities.

At first, T. only worked part-time to earn money to spend on personal interests. Then, over time, he was caught up in the cycle of part-time work, and the time and effort spent on studying were reduced and neglected.

"Sometimes, working takes up more time than going to class. At that time, I didn't clearly understand why I was in college. I failed many subjects and was constantly stressed because I felt weak. Now I have to try to focus my time on retaking the failed subjects so I can graduate on time," T. confided.

Unlike the two students above, who decided to graduate early compared to the training program, Ton Nu Phien Tran, a former student of Duy Tan University, made a detailed plan early and graduated in 3.5 years with an average GPA of 3.84.

Tran said that like some other students, in her first year, because she didn't know how to manage her time and determine her main goals, she participated in many outside activities and neglected her studies.

Starting from her second year, Tran realized that those activities did not help her much, so she decided to learn more about her major and determine the path she wanted to take after graduation.

Tran searched for a lot of information and shared with seniors, started to build herself close to the job she was aiming for. Currently, Tran is working at a business in Ho Chi Minh City.

New students of Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities during the admission ceremony - Photo: HO THI NHUONG

Avoid vagueness and infatuation

According to Master Dao Duy Duyen - lecturer of psychology department, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, many students after achieving the big goal of passing the university entrance exam cannot determine their next goal, leading to a loss of direction and motivation to continue trying and pursuing their studies.

In addition, the transition from high school to higher education, students gradually reduce their dependence and control from adults, and have more opportunities to develop independence.

But if freedom and self-control are not properly perceived and used appropriately, young people will fall into the trap of losing self-discipline and living an unorganized life.

MSc. Duong Tran Minh Doan - lecturer of the Department of Psychology, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City National University - said that to avoid confusion and overindulgence in other recreational activities, students need to clearly define their university goals right from the beginning of their first year.

"Study and work plans need to be clearly developed, time divided reasonably, and daily and weekly to-do lists created," Mr. Doan advised.

To live and study successfully in a university environment

Moving from high school to university requires not only changes in knowledge but also in psychology, learning style and the ability to adapt to a new life.

In fact, many years of university teaching and through monitoring on mass media show that many new students are bewildered when entering the university gate. Some students can adapt very quickly, but many students are quite confused when moving to a new living and learning environment and their academic results often decline due to many causes.

Some students suffer serious consequences such as stress, poor academic progress, failure, retaking exams, and even having to "drop out" of university. This number can reach hundreds of students, especially in schools with reputation, prestige, and a tradition of serious testing and evaluation.

The biggest change when entering university is independence and self-reliance. Without teachers or parents to remind you every day, you have to manage your own time, your studies and your personal life. This requires you to practice time management skills, make plans and set clear goals.

In addition, new students will find that the way of studying at university is very different from that of high school. If in high school students are familiar with teachers explaining each word in detail, then in university, self-study, research, and reading additional reference materials play a more important role.

Students have less opportunity to meet teachers than in high school. University lectures often only provide basic concepts, but it is up to students to understand and expand their knowledge.

In general, university education will be very different from high school education in terms of goals, content, especially teaching and learning methods and testing and assessment. Cheating on exams or plagiarism will be punished much more severely than in high school education.

Respect, listen and share with everyone around you. Effective communication skills will help you more easily cooperate in learning and participating in social activities.

Even the little things like food and accommodation services, convenience stores, security and order, where to help yourself when you encounter difficulties in your study life such as borrowing credit for example... you need to pay attention and know this information to help you feel confident and comfortable living and studying in a new environment.

Many children have the habit of passively living with their parents, and when they go to university, they often waste time and money on many useless things.

Instead of managing time effectively to arrange self-study or to work part-time, some students often wander around looking for entertainment at internet cafes, restaurants or spend most of their time surfing the internet while neglecting their studies.

This mentality is quite common because after a stressful time studying for exams, psychologically the human brain always wants to relieve stress and if not adjusting learning in time, it is easy to fail in university.

Money management skills are essential, spending should be planned and a portion of money should be saved and reserved for emergencies. Limit spending on unnecessary things and always find ways to save when possible to feel secure about money, do not spend too much to affect relationships and affect learning.

In addition, other issues that need to be noted include taking care of one's own health, exercising regularly to help children develop good habits, reduce illness when away from home...

TS HOANG NGOC VINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/xac-dinh-muc-tieu-de-khong-hoc-dai-dai-hoc-20240925225146726.htm