Psychologist's recommendations on the adaptation of first-year students to study at the university

And now the carefree school life is over, it's time to think about the future and successful training at a higher education institution. Without this there is no way, because graduates today are especially in demand in all areas of employment, receive decent salaries and can afford a comfortable existence. So what is not a stimulus, which is certainly worth striving for?
The task is not easy, and, as practice shows, not all students can endure this distance of 5 years. That is why the question of how to help the student to adapt in the university is one of the most important, and should be timely addressed in the first year.
Causes of freshman depression
Typically, after admission to the first year enthusiastic sense of euphoria disappears in mid-September, and in its place comes laziness, moping and depression. Even students cannot explain such changes in their own mood, let alone teachers and parents who let their children go to adulthood. Of course, the situation is not the most pleasant, but it has its own good reasons, and completely adequate and well-reasoned from the psychological side. The answer must be sought within, because the behavior of the freshman, his thoughts and actions are a consequence of the internal imbalance that occurs with a sharp change in the environment and the usual routine of life.
So, let's try to figure out why many students, having entered the first year, very quickly lose interest in learning and no longer want to attend university?
There are several reasons, and here are the most common ones:  
New surroundings. Sometimes it is very difficult to get used to new people, especially when students of different social statuses gather at university. Here out "emerge" deep inferiority complexes, internal insecurity, unconscious fears and recognition of his own uncommunicative. That is why the desire to attend classes comes to naught, and the meaning of higher education is also suddenly lost.Strict teachers. If at school graduates are used to teachers running after them, trying to put aside in their minds some understanding of their subject, then at university the lecturer does not care about your academic performance. His job is to read out the lecture, and no one cares if you have any understanding or not. Of course, new subjects are not given immediately, so the fuse to learn passes.Competition or natural selection. Not always in the first year you can meet new friends who will become buddies for the rest of life. As a rule, the newcomers just look at each other, so devotion, loyalty and sacrifice in this period can not even think. Perhaps later a certain social circle will be formed, but meanwhile you will have to be bored, and then on the way to moping.I do not like the group. Graduation in school are noisy and pathos, and graduates swear to each other in eternal love and friendship. But come September 1, and the newcomers find themselves in a completely unfamiliar group, where everyone has their own views on life and beliefs. There will be not only pleasant interlocutors, but also categorical opponents, in front of whom, one way or another, will have to defend their position in life. Increased pressure from parents. Very often, instead of assistance, the closest people for first-year students begin to exert increased pressure, reminding them of their future profession, their duty to their parents' efforts, and their life choices.It is as if the student feels obligated to everything, so such responsibility certainly pressures and spoils a great mood.
And there can be many such reasons, but it is important to understand that study and the final result is the primary task of each student.
It must be relentlessly pursued, overcoming on its way the most unexpected and not always pleasant obstacles. But how to help the student to avoid feelings of moping and loneliness, to save from despair and to accelerate the process of adaptation in the higher educational institution?    
How to deal with these causes:
 First Solution: Community Service
Entering the first year of high school, the student must understand that he still stays in the "gray mass", and a place in the sun will have to fight tooth and nail.
The situation is common, but not all students can leave behind a decent memory. And, nevertheless, it is definitely worth striving for.
So, what could it be? A student newspaper, a sports section, KVN, a trade union. And why not, because it's not only a good opportunity to prove yourself, but also a chance to move up the union ladder, to find new friends and acquaintances, to feel your own importance and irreplaceability.
When a student maximally realizes himself in all spheres of life, he has no time to be bored and depressed - every minute is scheduled. Thanks to such a busy lifestyle, the process of adaptation will be fast and hardly noticeable, so you do not have to worry about it.
The second way: sports
If the student was actively involved in sports at school, then this hobby he can safely transfer to student life. As you know, modern universities have a sports complex with a variety of areas of physical education. It only remains to visit it, talk to coaches and sign up for the most suitable sports section.
If you combine business with pleasure, that is, sports and studies, then very soon student life will improve, first-year student will get into a rut, and the daily workload will remove a number of problems, mental worries and fears.
Sport is always useful and aesthetic, but most importantly, you can meet new people who also share this love, and with them will certainly have something to talk about.
Thus, the adaptation period at the university will be short, and will pass quickly and unnoticed by any athletic freshman.
Option Three: Prioritize
Every freshman, coming on the first of September to study at the university, must set priorities for himself.
To do so, it is important to answer three main questions for yourself:
Why did I come to study?What do I want to achieve?How will I achieve my goals?In the head stands a plan. If the answers are properly formulated in your own mind, then the process of adaptation can be considered fully completed.
Such a routine will allow you to get rid of moping and focus on your studies, and all the difficulties and obstacles will seem quite natural phenomena on the way to your goal.
Every student should have ambition. They are the "motor" that makes him "flounder in the abyss of knowledge and innovation.
In general, all this is surmountable, the main thing is not to dwell on minor mishaps and remember your main goal, which was set when you entered a particular university.
As a freshman, it is important to understand that this is not only a great honor, but also a huge responsibility placed on the shoulders of yesterday's graduate. In order to achieve harmony and enjoy all that is going on, you need to be in control at all times.
What does this mean?
Get acquainted with your fellow students, with whom you will have to maintain a pleasant communication for at least 5 coming years.Establish contact with professors, avoid getting into their sarcastic language, while writing notes, actively participating in discussions of the subject matter of the course, and demonstrating your interest in learning.Participate in all extracurricular and organizational activities, noticeably expanding the circle of new and useful acquaintances, which in the future may come in handy more than once.To maintain friendly relations with the curator of the group, who, if necessary, will help to solve any problems and answer even the trickiest questions on the subject and not only.To determine the circle of like-minded people, with whom in the future it will be comfortable and easy to communicate, and then unobtrusively go to rapprochement.Act as an initiator, but do not impose their unqualified opinion to the team, be able to compromise in communication.All of these simple rules will help not only to quickly adapt in a new institution, but also to attract the attention of everyone, become a tacit leader and just the soul of the company.
Having achieved this position in society, the next 5 years of study at university will fly by unnoticed.
The fifth way: the exploration of the new world
As a rule, the process of adaptation is difficult and exhausting only in those cases where a person gets into an unfamiliar situation and does not find a way out, putting up with all the circumstances.
Feelings at such moments are not the most pleasant, and can be a major cause of mental depression.
To moping is not covered already in the first year, it is necessary to thoroughly and carefully examine the conditions of its new environment.
If fully immersed in the learning process in all its colors, then very soon unseen becomes painfully familiar, familiar.
Then the problems in the environment will not arise, and the new environment will not have increased pressure on the already formed personality.
Adaptation is possible in any team, the main thing is to find the right approach to the new environment, to take a certain position in society and demonstrate all your communication skills. Then studying at the university will also seem like a fun stroll in the company of best friends that lasts 5 years.
Dear Freshman! If our advice could not help you to adapt to the university in full and you still have difficulties, you can ask for professional help to the experts of psychological service by phone 49-30-35 or you can consult the blog of psychological service on the website of the university (section "For students").
                                                                                                                              Author: N.V. Nikitina, psychologist