ADJUSTING TO UNIVERSITY

University - the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship 'Education'. Our continuing mission: To learn about the world, to improve our Islam and, possibly, get a job...

Seriously, though, congratulations upon getting into university! This is a great achievement.

An important thing to consider -- what is different about university and being a Muslim there involves. For those who haven't been to university, it's a great place, but probably

The second obvious difference lies in the teaching style. At school, knowledge is usually spoon-fed in small groups. Not at the university. Some lecturers don't care if you attend their lectures or not; and they don't say, "Copy this from the board into your exercise books", it's more likely that they will put up a slide and you can copy it if you feel it is relevant. As for class sizes, certain lectures in popular courses can be attended by as many as 1500 people. Don't expect a lot of personal attention.

The third obvious difference is in the student body. While school may be an environment which emphasizes making everyone behave in a similar manner (for example, making everyone wear the same uniform); university is almost the opposite, where being different is the norm (as contradictory as it sounds!!).

There are no uniforms, and provided you act within the bounds of common sense and common courtesy, people do not really care that much about what you do. Or perhaps they do care, but they're not going to harass you for being different, they're more likely to support you.

What are the implications of the above, especially in the context of a Muslim going to a university? Because universities are much larger, this means that they typically support a wider range of interest groups, hobbies and so on.

Therefore, nobody's looking over your shoulder, checking if you've been doing your homework and attending lectures, and this means that you depend on yourself a lot more. It's no longer good enough to just coast along. You need to motivate yourself. This sounds like it is trivial, but I've seen many first years make a pretty big mess because of this. People who used to be the top of their schools get marks in the low 50's and in some cases, fail. So, be aware!

Finally, because of the wide variety of different ideas at the university, it is easier to be an individual. This has its pros and cons as you would expect. It means you have the opportunity to be a better person and get involved in a variety of beneficial activities, but at the same time, it may mean you will merely waste your time.

There are so many things that you can do that at the beginning you just want to do it all! Also, it can lead to you being caught in the activities of groups that may lead you to things that you might later regret.

Being a Muslim on campus, you have certain responsibilities to yourself and to the Muslim community in general. These are very simple things to do, and they don't take much time. It is important to be proud of being Muslim. So many Muslims I know hide their belief, as if it is something to be embarrassed about. This is understandable to a certain extent, given the bad reputation that Muslims get in the media today, but it doesn't make it right.

There is a lot to be proud of about being Muslim. Historically, the activities of the Muslims as scientists and scholars formed the basis for the European Renaissance (a debt which many historians 'forget' about), as well as creating a stable, just society for more than 800 years. Morally, being Muslims means that you adhere to a set of beliefs and forms of behavior that elevate you above those who do not adhere to to these beliefs.

Remember that you are a walking example of Islam, and that almost everything you do will not only reflect on you, but to some extent on Islam itself. You should reflect all the attributes that make you proud to be Muslim: honesty, sincerity, trustworthiness, cleanliness, politeness and so on. When people see these characteristics in you -- they will not only like you as a person, they will also be curious as to its origin and seeing you are Muslim -- they would have a positive image of Islam.

Courtesy of: www.modernreligion.com