What’s something you wish you’d known (or taken to heart) in your first year?

As campus comes to life with the first week of 2024-25 classes, we talked with a few students. We asked the first years what they’re looking forward to, and the upper years what they know now, looking back.

Here’s what some of them had to say. (Thank you to the students who took the time to chat with us!)

Pierce | Year 1, Social Sciences

Before arriving for their first day on campus, Pierce was pretty anxious.

“I was so scared. I was worried everything was going to go wrong,” they say.

But once they got here? “Now I’m here, and it’s fine. Everything is fine.”

Between the first day of classes and Clubs Fest, campus was even busier than Pierce had expected. They explored a few buildings, then successfully signed on and went through their first online class. By the time we caught up with them, as class ended, they were feeling pretty good.

What Pierce is looking forward to:   

“Well, I know that for a lot of people this is their first time being on their own. And it is for me as well: I come from kind of a larger family, so I’m just looking forward to that independence.

“And then I’m also looking forward to achieving an education that a lot of members of my family haven’t. I think I’m the first in some parts of my family to go to university. So I’m excited to do something that’s an accomplishment.”

DB | Year 2, Integrated Science

ISci student DB, who describes herself as “a quiet person who likes art,” knows the start of the school year can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to social interactions. And if you’re shy, it can be tempting to put up a front to get people to like you.

“But you’ve got to own who you are: If you want to make honest friends, you’ve got to be honest,” she says. “Because otherwise you won’t make strong friendships, and that is very important.”

“There are so many people here — someone is going to be looking for you. And unless you put yourself out there and are honest about who you are, they won’t find you.”

That’s how DB made her first friend at McMaster: “We met on the first day, and we’re still friends to this day. It’s an honest friendship, it’ll last a long time. I was pretty upfront: I’m a quiet person who likes art …She’s very witty and has a way with words.

“I love her humour, and we balance each other out.”

DB’s advice for first years:  

“I would say 100 per cent you need to schedule in downtime. I did not do that, and then you get even more stress. And then you need to be like, ‘At that time, I’m not going to do anything, no work!’ ”

“A lot of our professors are very kind and they gave us advice about how scheduling downtime is very important, and we all just laughed it off and then we all got really stressed out. So make sure you do the things you love.”

Gabriella | Year 1, Health and Society

First-year Social Sciences student Gabriella took an extra year of high school, “and that helped me be like, “My next step is university,’” she says.

“I felt like because of COVID especially, if I didn’t stay the extra year, I would feel a little bit unprepared.”

After her very first McMaster class — intro to calculus — Gabriella was on her way to explore the new McMaster Learning and Discovery Greenhouse.

What Gabriella is looking forward to at McMaster:

“Research! And learning about things I’m interested in that I didn’t really get a chance to do at a high school level. Really delving into biology; I have an interest in anatomy …. being able to delve into all that stuff would be great. I love plants.”

Laura | Year 4, Health & Society, Specialization in Mental Health and Addiction

Saba | Year 4, Justice, Political Philosophy & Law (JPPL)

Laura and Saba met as first-year students at Welcome Week, and they’ve been friends ever since. The two things they want first-years to know is that it’s important to surround yourself with good people; and how to show yourself grace in tough times.

“It’s very important to find your people, who just understand you and will be there for you in those moments where you’re having hard time,” Saba says.

“And they try to understand you,” adds Laura. “I feel like that’s something that is really key because you can always find people with commonalities to you — the same program or the things you both like, but you need to mesh on the other points, where they want to understand you and get you know you more.”

Laura and Saba’s advice for first years: 

“It’s not as scary as you think, and you’re definitely gonna make it through. Just enjoy it, because even though you’re gonna have times when it feels like the end of the world, IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.

“And you’re gonna wish that you just were a little bit more lenient with yourself, so give yourself more grace.”

They’re speaking from experience — a first-year course they might never forget.

“It was my lowest mark of university,” Saba says.“It was very humbling and I thought that I would never recover from it, but honestly, looking back in hindsight it was not that bad at all.”

Laura agrees. “If I could go back and talk to myself, I’d be like ‘Just chill.’ You’ll be okay in the long run.”

“Also: Enjoy your meal card too! (Both laugh) Enjoy that card because it really hurts having to pay debit.”

Muska | Year 2, Sustainable Chemistry

Ziya | Year 4, Life Sciences

Arman | Year 4, Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour

Muska, Ziya and Arman met through the Ismaili Students Association, and they hope new students feel comfortable giving a campus club, association or activity a try.

“Find those communities yourself, whether it be culturally or just maybe based on interest,” Arman says.

Muska, who signed up to try fencing last year, says it’s absolutely worth it to try something new.

And especially for international students, it can be a real comfort to have a club or space you can come back to on a bad day, Ziya adds.

“There are a lot of groups and clubs on campus, and once you know your people, it feels like you found home.”

Their advice for first years: 

Arman: Go to your classes because it’s easy to fall behind if you don’t go.

Muska: I would say take it easy. Enjoy your first day. Make sure you’re getting all your important deadlines and dates in. And just make the most of it and soak it all in.

Ziya: My advice would be that make your TAs your best friend. They’re always there for you. They’ll help you out with all of your assignments. (I’m not a TA! But I think they’re amazing.)