Over the last few years, as a mature student, personal coach and consultant within the HE sector, I’ve met many people who have found their time in education a rewarding and enjoyable experience. If you are about to leave school and preparing to go on to further/higher education, or contemplating a return to study after a long gap, and wondering what the experience will be like for you, be comforted by the fact that many people experience minor hiccups along the way and, as in any environment, suffer a few irritations.

It’s easy to let the frustrations, which sometimes come with a different culture and a whole new set of processes/people to negotiate, spoil your enjoyment of your course. And, whilst it’s important to remember that you are the customer, how you overcome the problems that you encounter can make the difference between a very rewarding, or very unpleasant, experience.

The aim of this article is to draw on the experience of others to help you anticipate some of the hiccups and deal with the irritations effectively, so that your own route through the system is a positive one.

First of all, manage your expectations…

Make the effort to find out how things work. Read all the induction material you are given – most of the questions you have about processes/timetables/points of contact/etc. will probably be covered in there. I know that this is a case of ‘stating the obvious’ but you will be amazed how many academic and administrative staff complain about being bombarded with questions, where the answers have already been given in the material provided!

Try to remember that administration staff and tutors generally have a huge array of work to undertake (contrary to popular myth). Asking them for information that is available elsewhere – the notice board, the induction manual, the website – just adds to the burden.

Contrary to another popular myth, most tutors do not spend their non-teaching time languishing in their office drinking coffee. Most have their own portfolio of research topics, as well as the need to mark mountains of written work, and therefore often publish set hours when they are available for ad-hoc student meetings. Check out early on how your tutor likes to deal with ad-hoc queries/advice requests and try to keep to this – co-operation breeds co-operation!

Don’t expect to be handed everything on a plate. For example, just because you are on a ‘taught’ postgraduate programme does not mean that you don’t have to contribute to seminar classes. Whatever the level of your course, self-reliance will be an essential skill, but that doesn’t mean you can’t ask for help when you really need it.

Keep an open mind…

As in any new environment, you will meet people from all different backgrounds, and who have different ideas, opinions and behavioural styles.

It’s important to remember that you don’t have to be best buddies with everyone, but making an effort to get along with your fellow students is more likely to lead to a better atmosphere all round, and in turn that will make your own experience a more positive one. Appreciating that people have different learning styles and different social skills is a useful start-point.

Make an effort to work constructively during seminar/group activities. Whilst it’s tempting to show how much you know from the outset, being openly critical of others because their grammar is incorrect, or interrupting someone to tell them they have got their facts wrong (both examples taken from students’ experiences!), won’t make for a great atmosphere.

Listen to alternative opinions and ideas. It’s fine to disagree, and to offer your own thoughts, but try to do so without being patronising or aggressive.

Participate…

If your course involves group work (e.g. a group presentation) don’t leave it to everyone else to organise how the work should be divided, and take on your fair share.

A common gripe is often the limited availability of reading material in the library, particularly when several people, for the same essay, or for the same seminar, require it. Working together as a team to identify what’s available and how the material can be shared/swapped/photocopied/etc. will be a real plus-point. And try not to be the one who hogs all the books!

And when things go wrong…

With the best will in the world (and I know from personal experience) there will be times when irritations occur and you need to decide what to do. These can be anything - the bossy fellow student, the unhelpful tutor, and so on.

My first advice would be to consider whether the situation or the behaviour is really a problem for you. Is it getting in the way of you completing your coursework successfully?

A good example came from a mature student who was on a part-time Master’s programme. She became increasingly irritated at the small minority of students who consistently turned up to seminars without having completed the required reading and who rarely said a word throughout. Eventually she realised that it wasn’t their behaviour that was spoiling things for her – they were the ones losing out – but her own annoyance, which was festering from week to week. In this case, learning to let go of the issue was the key point.

However, there may be times when the situation does need to be tackled. Whilst I can’t offer a solution to every possible problem, I can make a few suggestions about how you might deal with the issue positively:

• Find out whether it’s becoming a problem for other people (based on my question above).
• Decide if it’s something you can resolve with the person concerned (e.g. explaining informally to the ‘book hogger’ how his/her behaviour is affecting you might be more effective than complaining to the librarian)
• If you do decide to take it up with the person concerned, always be polite, and be assertive rather than aggressive. Explain how the problem makes you feel, try to show empathy as to how the situation may have arisen, and offer suggestions as to how it could be resolved. Don’t point the finger (literally or figuratively!), or tell the other person, in no uncertain terms, how terrible they are.
• If it’s a problem you can’t resolve through a one-to-one chat try talking informally to someone further up the ladder (your course tutor, your personal tutor, the head of department, the administration manager, etc.). Explain clearly and politely how the situation is affecting you, and outline what help you need to get it resolved.
• Although you are very much the customer, and, as such, are entitled to see unnecessary problems resolved, I would generally advise leaving the formal complaint route as an absolute last resort.
• That said, if the situation is a serious one, don’t put up with it in silence. Talk to someone ‘out of the loop’ if that’s easier (for example, a welfare officer, a member of the Lifelong Learning Unit if your college/uni has one). They should be able to advise you and support you in getting the problem solved.