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Student Independent News

NUI Galway Student Newspaper

News Take: The success of The Success Quiz

September 20, 2022 By Ríona Hughes Societies Officer

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!

Ríona Hughes Societies Officer
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  • Ríona Hughes Societies Officer
    https://sin.ie/author/riona-hughes-societies-officer/
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