Guidance Tips for Firstulas

FIRSTULAS, WELCOME TO UNIVERSITY LIFE! 

Here are some things I learnt during university life or wished someone had told me earlier. Sharing these tips so you might benefit from:

//NO BEST FRIEND. ONLY ACQUAINTANCES// 

My elder sister on my coming to hostel suggested me to make as many acquaintances in first year, but no best friend. It worked in my case. It takes time to see true personalities of people around you, while you explore yours along the way. 

//STUDY SMART//

Make studies your priority. Enjoy co-curriculars along the way. Ask immediate seniors for guidance before every test/substage. Study with your colleagues. Teach eachother what you have studied individually. Concepts gain clarity this way faster. Offer help to eachother in studies. Be brave enough to ask for help when you need it. It's a sign of inner strength, not weakness. Everyone is struggling especially in first year. Read conceptual books alongwith exam-essential books. Watch YouTube animations. Listen to Dr Najeeb lectures. Think. Ask questions. If you go to a senior for studies related guidance and they say "aakhri din hojaega yaar, CHILL KRO", don't go to them for studies related guidance again. Find a better senior. 

Credits: Google Images

//EXPLORE MAYO//

First two years of MBBS are mainly based on theoretical learning only (makes no sense though) and you might get no feeling of becoming a doctor. So, wear overall and go to ward/OPD and ask patients how their experience of Mayo Hospital has been. Patients hold untold stories to share. How well or otherwise the doctor treated them. You would gain clarity over what not to do while wearing a steth. Go to emergency. Learn intravenous/ intramuscular injections. Assist and observe procedures in emergency operation theatre. If you make an effort, you will find people willing and eager to teach. During your stay in Mayo, touch as many abdomens, listen to as many chests, talk to as many patients as possible. Keep your curiosity alive. 

Credits: Google Images

//PLAN SOME DO'S AND DON'TS FOR YOURSELF//

Make out a tentative plan what you want to achieve in your personal and social life here. Decide some donts'.(e.g no cheating, avoiding proxy) Make sure to define some boundaries for yourself. Be flexible enough to revisit them time and again with a critical eye for re-adjustments. Learn to simply leave gatherings where you are not comfortable. Be considerate enough to not create a noise when your room-mate is sleeping. Just because you are struggling in some way doesn't grant you an issuance card to create troubles for others. Hold down your anger there. Become the source of ease for eachother. It might bother you a lot initially what your room-mate or friend next door or person walking outside your window is doing right now but you'd slowly learn to enjoy your noodles at 2 am no matter if the person in front of you is sleeping or studying or watching a movie. You will learn to follow and trust your own schedule. The only person that should matter to you most is your ownself. 

//IF YOU ARE GOING TO STAY HERE, GET THE MOST OF THIS PLACE//

If you are someone who had some other dreams in mind but somehow landed here, decide early on if you can afford the other plan and don't want to stay here. Just leave then. (I know this is brutal but that's exactly what i would say to my five year younger self) If you decide/have to spend next five years here, think of it as an opportunity to actually experience whether medicine works for you or doesn't. Create an opportunity out of this obligation. Make an effort at least. I know it's hard. But make an effort. Try to get the most of this place in these five years of your life. 

//EXPLORE LAHORE//

You are in Lahore! Go discover history, old havelis and under-discovered places of Lahore. Explore the food. Go to Al-Hamra theatrical plays. Go to Pak Tea house; silently sit on a table and listen to talk on table beside you. Man. You will find characters everywhere. 

Credits: Author's 

//NEVER STOP HAVING FUN//

Read books. Watch movies. Play sports. Go for a walk. Write your diary (keep it locked or it would be stolen like mine :/) Create your personal space where you can spend some time alone. Keep your personal pursuits alive. Attend and participate in university events of your interest. Join societies. Learn new skills. Start early. Challenge yourself. Break your bubble of idealism. 

Credits: Google Images

//BUILD VALUABLE FRIENDSHIPS// 

This place offers some of the smartest of minds. You will find them in classfellows, seniors, juniors and (a few) teachers. Keep your ears alert to recognize a voice in the sea of utter noise. Befriend them. Ask teachers about their experiences. Get inspired, not intimidated. Learn the art of initiating conversations with your friendly university fellows. Believe me, you would have some of the most intellectual and fulfilling conversations over a random hostel bench. Allow yourself to be intellectually uncomfortable. Fight off your discomfort to share your opinion. Express yourself in friends' circle. That's the only way to find people who appeal to you. If you are an introvert, work on your comfort level to start conversations with strangers. Articulation and clarity will come itself with time. Don't stay too closed or inhibited. Network with as many people as you can. Listen to as many opinions as you can. It would help you make out your own. You can ascertain where you stand on the ladder of passion only when you meet people below and above where you are standing right now. Discover yourself. And then accept it. 

Credits: Google Images

//EXPLORE PSYCHOLOGY/PSYCHIATRY DOMAIN//

Go to psychologists in behavioral sciences department to discuss your internal conflicts and future life goals with professionals. Come on! Those people have years of clinical training just on how to talk to different human minds. They are sitting there for you! Break the norm; explore domain of philosophy, psychology and psychiatry. See whether professional counseling works for you, and how much. Seeing is believing; once you are convinced yourself, you would be in a position to help a friend or a family member get professional help instead of watching them suffer alone. You can save others only once you learn to save yourself. 

//STAY CONNECTED TO YOUR FAMILY// 

Call/videocall your family to stay connected to family matters, siblings and parents. It's futile to whine over hostel/university conditions on call all the time. You will of course feel lighter, but your mama would stay awake worried whole night. Think about her. You are going to learn to solve your problems yourself instead of running to your mama papa now. You will learn to manage your budget. You will learn to take care of your mental and physical fitness yourself. Rely on yourself.

Credits: Google Images

University life is yet another opportunity to start from zero and re-define your identity from scratch. Make sure it's original. One you are proud of when you exit this university after five years. Make sure to leave with a life-time experience. More memories; less regrets. You can be anything and everything you want. Before you lies a stage and it's all yours now. Soar high! 

نہ تو زمیں کے لیے ہے نہ آسماں کے لیے

جہاں ہے تیرے لیے تُو نہیں جہاں کے لیے

(اقبال)