Challenges and Solutions for University Students: Study Skills Report

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the challenges faced by university students, transitioning from school to higher education. The report delves into issues such as adjustment to a new environment, time management, homesickness, tough competition, finding new friends, health-related problems, relationship issues, depression, peer pressure, and lack of skills. It offers an in-depth literature review that explores these challenges and their impacts on student life. Furthermore, the report provides an analysis and discussion of these challenges, emphasizing the varying impact on individuals. It concludes with practical recommendations, including time management strategies, seeking guidance, managing relationships, enhancing skills, handling peer pressure, and addressing homesickness and mental health concerns. The report aims to equip students with the knowledge and tools to navigate the complexities of university life successfully. The report is a great resource for students available on Desklib.

Study Skills

ABSTRACT
This report reviews the key challenges faced by the students when they start their new
university life. In this report, several challenges and measures to overcome those challenges are
addressed. It also covers relevant steps that can be taken order to reduce the impact of it on
student’s life.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION.........................................................................................................................5
RECOMMENDATIONS..................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Moving from school to University is a very big thing. But in order to achieve success it is
very essential to grab the specific skills and abilities that will be very helpful in further
education. This scenario of studying in school is different from a University and it requires one
to get prepared for the same. In this report the major challenges faced by the students when they
start their university life. It also includes some recommendations that can be used to overcome
these challenges.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Kahu, Nelson and Picton (2017), starting University means starting a new
life as a student’s leave their home to start a new journey based on self-reliance and self-
discovery which completely changes the outlook on life. Also, sometimes students are not
prepared for the challenges that they might face in university and which may result into
overwhelmed with the situation and might take extra time in adjusting with their new life. The
major challenges face with students are- first is adjustment to new life. Whether the student is
experiencing the campus life for the first time or has just came back from home after vacations,
requires a certain amount of time for adjusting with the change. For the first-year student, it is
always very hard which come with the culture shock because of the change in the culture from
where they have come from which may get them confused with all the new things surrounding
them. Second is time management, from living alone to doing the required chores along with
maintain the social life, eating well and getting enough sleep is the one of the major challenges
faced by the students. As stated by Kwon, Kim and Kwak (2018), as student’s find no time to
manage all these things which leads to irregular pattern of sleeps and last-minute stuffs. This
encourages the need to manage this unsustainable behavior. Next is home sickness, this
challenge can strike the student very hard. But because of the modern and different means of
communication students can stay connected with their family and friends over internet.
Another challenge is tough competition. As per the view of Parker and et.al (2017), it is
of no surprise that competition is apart of life and everyone has to face it. But when it comes to
students, the level of competition they face is much more and extremely high. They have to work
hard in order to prove themselves. It is all fine if the competition is healthy but if it turns ugly
and challenging then students need to little more careful. Another important challenge that
affects many is finding new friends. It is very difficult to find and make new friends to a
completely new place. Sometimes, students try to fit with the people who are of different interest
just for the sake of making friends. The next challenge faced by the students is very common
which is health related issues. This issue is faced by mostly everyone especially when they stay
away from their home. Students sometimes fall sick frequently either because of the change in
environment and sometimes it may be the result of issues related to education system which is
very demotivating to the students as not every student is a quick learner. This leads to mental
health problems as well. As stated by Kong and et.al (2016), relationships can also be the major
problem and challenge for the students in university. Relationship can be related to anything with
respect to love, support and excitement. But it also results in pain and sufferings if things go all
wrong. This topic is very sensitive and important. There might to situation when students tend to

develop feelings for someone and might get overfriendly with someone which may be opposite
sex. Handling it very carefully is essential otherwise it can cause a serious problem. Depression
is also one of the challenges that student faces. This can lead to increase in stress level and will
be the cause of many health-related issues both mentally and physically. As said by Bovill and
et.al (2016), apart from these basis problems sometimes problem arises from our surroundings
such as peer pressure, which is the major issue faced by university students. It has a direct
influence on the person by peer group and such people are encouraged to follow what others are
saying. It includes changing the attitude, behavior, perception. As per the view of Cowley
(2016), feeling of lacking behind or lack of skills is also the issue student faces. In this, student
has the feeling of unprepared with respect to the task that is required to be completed along with
relevant skills. In such situations, students try to put themselves off or make excuses in order to
put things on hold and also thinks that there is no sufficient time and energy to put in in order to
complete the task. Along with that students tries to avoid the task which is very hard and don’t
know where to start from. Thus, all these challenges are required to be tackled very carefully
because a student’s life is linked to it.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Based on the above, it can be said that a student faces many problem and challenges
when starting a new life without knowing what will come in its ways. All these challenges seem
to be very small and common that everyone faces but it can defer from person to person because
everyone faces it in their own ways which in other words can be said that how challenging it can
be completely depends upon the student with respect to facing it (Trautwein and Bosse, 2017).
These problems are faced by university student that doesn’t mean that university is responsible
for it. University is preparing students to face the challenges that they might come cross in their
career and it will become easy for the students to tackle the same in a proficient manner without
any stress because they are already used to it (Key, 2019). The progress needs to be made on the
part of students by upgrading their skills, attitude and behavior which are the foremost things that
are required to mitigate or face the challenges more effectively.
RECOMMENDATIONS
In order to overcome these challenges some of the steps and practices that can be used to
reduce the influence of it on the student are stated below.
 For managing time effectively, it is very essential for students prepare a schedule along
with reminders which will help in timely following the schedule set. If students are not
able to prepare a specific schedule, they can seek help for others like friends, mentor,
faculty etc.
 Also, the students should prioritize the work in order to efficiently execute the task and
complete it on time.
 The change in culture makes students stressed so they should try yoga and other
meditation to relax their mind.
 For effectively handling relationships, the universities provide guidance counselors and
housing assistants who provides help in handling the social aspect of university life.

 Also, students should remind themselves that abusive roommates, overly needy friends
and social isolation are all the problems that cannot be handled all alone and there is no
shame in asking for help either a friend, counselor etc.
 In case of lack of skills and knowledge, students first prepare a list of answered questions
and then research about the same and even after this if the student is not able to find the
solution then should talk to the professor about the questions (Nazareth, 2018).
 Students should find out ways to enhance their skills which can help in solving and
completing the task more effectively.
 For facing the peer pressure challenge, the only way is to say goodbye to those friends
and also make sure that there won’t be any toxic people who can affect or put pressure.
Along with that, try to approach to trustworthy person mostly an elder if things like
bulling is taking place in the campus.
 To overcome the problem of homesickness, the students can visit their home in once or
twice in a month if it is just 3 to 4 hours away. Also, can ask friends and family to do a
call, send care packages etc. All these activities will help in reducing the feeling of
homesickness.
 If the student is having the depression and stress problem in that case student should seek
the support of someone who is more professional and knows how to motivate the person
(Cowley and Hyams-Ssekasi, 2018). Many universities have counselling programs for
students which provides assistance to the students and provide training to get back on
track.
CONCLUSION
It can be summarized from the above analysis that it is very hard to shift from place to
especially all alone and apart from the family. Students have to face many challenges in their
life for achieving something from school, colleges to university. There are several challenges
that a university student might come across such as homesickness, time management, change
in culture, relationship problems etc. So, to solve these issues or reduce its impact certain
recommendation is provided which will be very helpful in tackling the situation and
contribute to memorable university experience.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bovill, C. and et.al, 2016. Addressing potential challenges in co-creating learning and teaching:
Overcoming resistance, navigating institutional norms and ensuring inclusivity in
student–staff partnerships. Higher Education. 71(2). pp.195-208.
Cowley, P. and Hyams-Ssekasi, D., 2018. Motivation, Induction, and Challenge: Examining the
Initial Phase of International Students’ Educational Sojourn. Journal of International
Students. 8(1). pp.109-130.
Cowley, P., 2016. Managing expectations: an exploration of the issues, challenges and support
systems relevant to international students in UK higher education.
Kahu, E., Nelson, K. and Picton, C., 2017. Student interest as a key driver of engagement for
first year students. Student Success. 8(2). pp.55-66.
Key, A., 2019. Exploring the experiences of estranged students in higher education: a
longitudinal comparative case study of two UK universities. Durham University, School
of Education.
Kong, E. and et.al, 2016. University Transition Challenges for First Year Domestic CALD
Students from Refugee Backgrounds: A Case Study from an Australian Regional
University. Australian Journal of Adult Learning. 56(2). pp.170-197.
Kwon, S. J., Kim, Y. and Kwak, Y., 2018. Difficulties faced by university students with self-
reported symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: a qualitative study. Child
and adolescent psychiatry and mental health. 12(1). p.12.
Parker, H. and et.al, 2017. Understanding the different challenges facing students in transitioning
to university particularly with a focus on ethnicity. New Directions in the Teaching of
Physical Sciences, 12.
Trautwein, C. and Bosse, E., 2017. The first year in higher education—critical requirements
from the student perspective. Higher Education. 73(3). pp.371-387.
Online
Nazareth, F., 2018. What Are The Challenges You Face As A Student And How To Overcome
Them? [Online]. Available Through:< https://www.alignthoughts.com/what-are-the-
challenges-you-face-as-a-student-and-how-to-overcome-them/>.