From hero to zero – and back again
From hero to zero – and back again
In research done by Marietjie Vosloo and Sonja Blignaut for the Sasol Inzalo Foundation*, they found that many students experience an identity crisis during the first term. These were star students at school but at university they suddenly could not cope. They were overwhelmed by the workload and many failed the first test and/or examination. Their self-confidence was utterly destroyed. One of them wrote the following response:
I still can’t believe it. At school maths was great. I had always attained the highest marks in the grade and even participated in external maths competitions. Now I couldn’t even pass … School maths had in no way prepared me for university maths.
To make it even worse, many of the students felt terribly alone because they did not want to talk to their families about what was happening or, when they did, they did not get the emotional support they needed. This is from a different student:
… my family is really proud of me and they just don’t believe me when I tell them about how I’m not coping because to them I’m their little daughter who is so smart, who never brought a bad result and always finds a way to be a top student.
* Vosloo, M.M. & Blignaut, S. From hero to zero … and back? The journey of first year access students in mainstream programmes. Available at https://www.assaf.org.za/files/2010/10/Vosloo-Blignaut-Hero-to-Zero.pdf