As an undergraduate student, facing challenges is inevitable. In my first at University of Waterloo, I was faced with the challenge of failing a chemistry midterm.
In high school, I never experienced failure before, and so getting my mark back was a complete surprise and made me feel really upset. What helped me get through this time was my family.
Their support meant everything to me. My mom’s first piece of advice was to go to the prof and get some help. I didn’t really like this idea because I felt like I was the only one who had failed the midterm and I would be bothering my prof and also because I was really embarrassed and didn’t want to hear that I’d have to take the course again or that I wasn’t good enough. But I knew I needed help, so I set up a meeting. The very first thing the prof told me was to never be afraid or feel embarrassed when coming to a prof for help. He was happy I came in. At this point I felt super relieved. Especially when he reassured me that chemistry is tough for a lot of people. Moving forward, one big thing I learned is that you should embrace change and learn from your mistakes. If one way isn’t working, try another way. In my case it was changing my study habits to adapt to the university environment. I also really want to emphasize reaching out for help and finding someone to talk to when you’re going through a tough time. Especially at the University of Waterloo, all of the profs and upper year students I’ve reached out to so far are quite amazing and willing to help you in any way they can.
- Bakhtawar Khan
