This year’s Success Quiz was launched last week for this year. Its purpose is to help all students take stock of where they are at the start of the year, to get some helpful tips and links to resources to maximize their university experience. The quiz gives you personalized feedback based on your answers and covers such areas as your health, engagement, adjustment, course choice & career, confidence with people and finances. There is a section based on the WHO AUDIT, (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) which is a handy tool to look at your drinking patterns and get some useful advice. The quiz is also an opportunity to tell the university what supports and resources you are interested in.
There were some interesting results from last year’s Quiz, which was of course a strange hybrid year where no one really knew what to expect. Respondents felt most confident with their course choice & career questions (77%) while confidence with finances was the lowest at 58%. When it came to adjusting well to University life 64.5% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that they would adjust well to college life, whereas 2% strongly disagreed. Approximately 40% of respondents were feeling anxious about settling into college, however confidently 77% of respondents are looking forward to their new independent lifestyle. 76% of respondents feel that they ‘have support from their families’ however it must be noted that approximately 16% of respondents either strongly agreed or agreed that they have ‘nobody to talk to about their worries’. This last finding highlights the importance of creating opportunities for students to feel a sense of belonging and connectedness. Most respondents expressed interest in either joining an extracurricular activity in college or continuing one during their time in the University 72.7% of respondents felt that volunteering and experiences gained through extracurricular activities such as clubs, societies and the Students’ Union will help them in the future. Positively, 67% of respondents ‘plan to join societies in college’ and 46% ‘plan to join a sports club’. Joining clubs and societies on campus can provide a way for students to make new friends and increase their social interactions.
This section on health in the of the survey aimed to understand how confident students felt about their overall wellbeing going into college for the first time or returning to their next year. Topics including physical health, mental health, and sexual consent were covered. 44.2% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they ‘feel fit and healthy’ overall, and nearly 30% of respondents reported that they ‘worry about their general health’ this result could be concerning; however, it is a broad question, but it is worth addressing this with continuing health promotion campaigns.
In other areas, positively 66% of students ‘felt confident and informed about their sexual health’ and approximately 76% of respondents ‘think it is important to know about sexual consent’. 43% of respondents are participating in ‘regular exercise’, however 10% of respondents indicated that they did not. 41% of respondents report ‘getting a good night’s sleep’, and 46.6% self-reporting that they ‘eat a healthy balanced diet’. Nevertheless, with these positive results it must be reported that nearly 60% of respondents ‘often feel stressed’, and 37% have ‘no energy and/or feel tired all the time’.
The survey asked what support services you believed you would use, choices included Societies 76%, Students Union 63%, Sports Clubs 54%, Student Health Unit 40%. Across the five colleges, Societies ranked the highest support service that respondents identified as one they might use in the coming academic year either in person or virtually. Other services that respondents showed an interest in were the Career Development Center, Counseling and ALIVE Volunteering Programme.
The quiz also asked about resources students felt they would use. The results show the top five chosen by respondents. In order of preference of college resources, the gym 57%, social nights 65%, library individual study room 50%, Academic Writing Centre 39% and Swimming Pool 38%. Respondents were again asked to prioritize the non- academic skills that they would like to learn outside of their academic studies. The top five interests chosen by respondents in order of preference were study/exam skills 67%, fitness 65%, self-motivation 65%, critical thinking 61%, and budgeting 58%. Respondents also expressed interest in topics such as time management, problem solving, organizational skills and communication. Those from ‘Business’ identified fitness and public speaking as areas of interest, ‘Science’ identified fitness and time management as important. Those in ‘Engineering’ ranked higher in problem solving and critical thinking, for those respondents from ‘Arts’ creativity and critical thinking were a priority.
Take the Quiz here https://socs.nuigalway.ie/successquiz/ and let us know what you think. Plus you can win some great prizes!
