For first-year students at the University of North Georgia, their start of college is a time of adjustment filled with more benefits, new privileges and academic expectations. This time can be exciting, but early missteps can make a student’s college experience challenging and frustrating.
Ariana Sutter, a junior majoring in nursing on campus, said her first year is what taught her meaningful lessons about being prepared and using available support. Looking back, Sutter feels her biggest setback was from not developing strong study habits early on.
“The biggest mistake I made was not learning good study habits while I was starting with the flexibility to improve before the harder classes came along,” Sutter said.
Some first-year students may not understand how fast coursework begins to roll out, especially in majors such as nursing, engineering and other STEM fields. Without effective study habits, many students struggle to keep up as classes become more difficult. This can cause high academic stress and lower grades for students.
Another challenge Sutter remembered was a lack of awareness about campus resources during her first semester. UNG offers many different resources for academic support, but many students, including freshmen, do not realize how available they are.
“I wish I had known that it was so easy to access student resources like open labs and TA tutoring in the STEM building,” – Ariana Sutter, Junior, Nursing major
These resources were put into play to help students succeed, but they are often underused by first-year students who may feel shy or unsure about asking for help. According to Sutter, waiting too long to seek help can make academic struggles harder to rebound from.
When asked what advice she would give incoming freshmen, Sutter stated the importance of overcoming self-doubt. She urges students to not be self-conscious about asking for help and encourages students to seek more ways to “improve studying, do better on tests and even on daily assignments and quizzes.”
Many instructors state that early academic struggles, especially in the first year, can create lasting challenges for college students. According to research highlighted by Inside Higher Ed, first-year performance is closely linked to student retention and timely graduation, meaning early troubles in the first year can disrupt a student’s academic trajectory.
Sutter’s experience shows a common theme among college students: success is not only about your intellect or effort but also about using the resources of your university to your benefit.
