Hi daisyqueen,
Firstly, congratulations on finishing year 12 and for your acceptance in this uni/TAFE course!
I agree with Maui that the transition between high school and uni/TAFE can be very nerve racking. It's a brand new environment after 13 years of being in the school system.
This will be my 3rd year at uni (another couple of weeks to go till the semester starts). I remember not knowing what to expect either on day 1 of uni. But as Maui also said, you won't be the only one. There will be 1000s of other nervous students so you're not alone in that sense.
In terms of what to expect, I'm not sure how TAFE is structured but I can give you some idea about uni.
The disability services at (most) unis oversee mental health issues (TAFE probably has an equivalent setup). If you have an existing MH condition and register with them, they can help you in terms of additional support like assignment extensions, counselling, etc. I think this is good to be aware of in case you ever need them.
Unis tend to organise units (subjects) as either lectures or tutorials (tutes) and sometimes pracs. Pracs tend to be for more STEM units (science, technology, engineering and maths) or perhaps even design units (although they're sometimes called alternative names like "studio").
Lectures generally involve a professor or dr who speaks for about 1-3 hours. Lecture class sizes tend to be on the larger end of the spectrum (unless you're doing a highly specialised unit). If you're studying popular units like law and commerce then you could easily have hundreds of students per lecture.
A lot of lectures are also recorded so you can watch/listen online (although check if this is the case for each unit).
Tutes (tutorials) are usually taught by current PHD students (tutors). Class sizes tend to be a lot smaller (usually between 15-25 students per class), and I personally find it easier to make friends in tutes than lectures. Tutes are great for seeking more personalised help (although you can still ask questions in lectures).
A helpful tip is to read the unit outline, which generally outlines all the important info e.g. assessment dates, tutor and lecture contact details, general admin, etc. It will give you an idea of what you can expect and what is expected of you.
Hope this helps.
All the best tomorrow! Let us know how it goes if you want 😊
Dottie x
