Introduction:
Being a student one wishes to have a life full of charm and enjoyment, but in practical life being a student is not easy, in U.S and around the world student are facing challenges and problems. Students enjoy their universities life if teachers are supportive; teachers in U.S universities are supportive, teachers of Long Island University, treat students equally, help them when needed, appreciate and motivate them to work. However, as students there are many challenges, one may face the problems of transportation, financial problems, language barriers and many other. One may also feel inferiority or racial differences. Students sometimes do not get the environment they desire off, and have to struggle hard. There is need of teacher actionable feedback and response. If teachers are sincere to students then students can overcome from any problem.
Long Island University:
The students who are psychologically upset, there are therapy by the expertise which help them to recover, the students can discuss about family relationships, disabilities and learning and memory problems. There are youth centre, which do counseling of the students. The teachers of LIU make their students excellent in every field (liu.edu, 2016).
Studying in U.S:
Studying in U.S may be an advantage for one, U.S education has range of choices and opportunities, to make a better and best decision is necessary in this case. If one wants to enjoy the university life, he has to be up-to-date with the knowledge. U.S government is hardly supporting the private universities, they are giving benefits and finance to public universities. Long Island University is the private university, so it has to arrange it monetary and non-monetary resources by its own. Being a student of LIU, one has to face many challenges.
In modern age, there are many burning issues, current economic and financial instability is the major concern of the
students; students are facing hardship in fulfilling their needs. Student has many more needs, when they are linked to an institute they need housing, entertainment and other activities like nutritious etc. Students of LIU universities today have the greatest responsibilities to mange. They have to manage their budget and have to plan the all other activities accordingly, studying is becoming hectic for the students, and there is a lot of burden on students given by the teachers, which can drive the students towards failure. Every student want smoother and pleasant university life, and now days every student is facing troubles, it is hard for student to handle the things all together, the pressure from the teachers, peer group and family. Part time job is very necessary for students of U.S if they want to deal with their university life, one can support his/her expenses if he is working and can participate in other activities. Moreover, one study could suffer if he is giving much time to the job (usnews, 2016).
Another greater concern to university students is the growing numbers of the students; the teachers cannot give the proper time and commitment to the one student and cannot focus on individuality. There is a need to focus on each student, in this way he/she will perform better and will discuss their complexities with the teachers.
Not every student is the best performer, but teachers expect same from all, there are diversified behaviors; this is another burning concern that is faced by the students in universities. There is low connectivity between professors, teachers and the students. Most of the teachers are filled with the self-esteem and self-ego, and this is the reason they create problems for the students. Many professors and teachers are helping and respectful; who help the student to make and brighten their career. Respect, honor and dignity should be given to the teacher’s for successful life. The life in LIU is multitasking; one should manage the study and entertainment. One should need to make the better relationships with the teachers and professors; it is important for the fruitful outcomes (Larédo, 2016).
Problems faced by a Student in Long Island University
Education is a backbone towards development, the educational system of universities should be improved, and the effective system can lead the university and country toward success. Student’s life is not that easier as it has seems, it is a big responsibility. Teachers need to be helpful, compassionate, encouraging and accommodating. Following are some problems that students have to face in Long Island University.
Financial problems:
In U.S, mostly people are living on the poverty line, that they can hardly fulfill their needs. People cannot afford or bear all the expenses of the university, being a student of LIU; one has to work, to meet all the expenses of the universities. Parents of some student cannot afford their expenses. One has to work and this is the reason one cannot properly concentrate on his/her studies. Students need to afford semester fees, dresses to wear, need books to study; course outline is too expensive. Some of the students have very limited resources, and they can feel inferiority complex if they do not have all the facilities which can also affect one’s study (elenalpm, 2013).
A student can be psychologically upset due to such situations if he does not have expenses to move in the university, in this aspect he may also face failure. To afford transportation cost is not easy, one may bunk classes his classes if he do not have money to travel. Going out from the university and afford the girlfriend/boyfriend expenses could also be an anxiety for one. One could face stress in his life if financial problems of university are not satisfied.
LIU student have many problems regarding monetary issue, studying in private universities is not easy, scholarship students may have to suffer lesser than others, but they still have to bear other expensive. Sometimes, students take loan from the relatives and friends for their education because it is not easy for them to cover all the expenses, it hard to find sustainable and reliable job, student face lot of problems regarding managing cost (liu.edu, 2016).
Lack of guidance:
There may be lack of guidance in some cases, there are many unguided student around the world and in LIU, who are ignored neither by the parents nor by the teachers. Due to ignorance, students may face serious problems. The purpose of the education is to encourage and motivate the student, but due to ignorance, one may lose interest in his studies. High expectations of families, can lead one toward success. When one new student gets admission in university, there is need of motivation and guidance so he may not be anxious of the culture in the university and not afraid of the course outline. A new student may have to face lots of problem and stress, there should be proper counseling of the students, and proper management and supervision should be there.
Language Barrier:
The student of LIU has language barriers, students may be from different background and the countries. The students of developing countries have to face language barriers. Some students face difficulties in learning, reading and communicating in proper English. Some students are unable to speak English frequently in the class, and can lose their self-confident. They cannot understand what is written in the book, and some of them have less memorizing power, some students cannot able to write in the paper what they have learned due to language barriers. Experts have said that student can learn more easily in their mother tongue, but teachers evaluates student as an expertise, which can also de-motivate them, majority of the students do not understand what is written in the text, and the face many problems regarding learning and then putting it on paper.
The new or international student may also face many problems due to language barriers. If he is an international student he can be lonely in the class, and it will be hard for him so survive in such environment, His cultural values are different from other he need support rather than critics, I have seen many students in LIU, who face large academic difficulties and are exposed to new experiences.
Imposed Study Programs:
One of the big problem students of LIU and other university student face in U.S is the imposed study program. The students are not given the choices of what they want to study, it is just imposed on them that what they have to study. Most of the students face problems and feel stress in studying imposed courses or the courses they have no interest, this is the reason that student fails in exam or show better performance, the courses should be according the interest of students. Parent imposed a field of study on their children and teachers imposed courses, one performance could be affect due to such behavior (blogspot, 2012).
Lack of Trained teachers:
Few students hardly talked about this, there is lack of trained teacher, and teachers may sometimes do not shows their interests. The educational system required experienced, trained and sincere teachers. Some teachers in LIU do favoritism in the class due to which other students feel lower, and stop working hard, as they know they will not get appreciation even if they perform best. Students are exposed to unskilled and untrained teacher, who always blame the student and due to such behavior student lose interest. There is result in early drop out; staff should be accountable in such aspect.
Teacher-Student relationship:
There is counseling of students in LIU. Teacher student relationship is needed if teacher want best results from the class, there should be strong relationship and teacher should have listening skills. Many of the students do not share their problems, because teachers do not understand students and are lacking in listening skills. Teachers hardly talks about the reality, and are predictable, they do not want to talk about the reality and are not engaged with the students. Students will not share their problems if teachers do not show their interest and student career will be disappointment. There is a lot of communication gap between students and the teachers, due to this gap teacher cannot understand the behaviors and deficiencies of the students, the result is different from what one expected, which can retard one positive abilities (Larédo, 2016).
Poor Time Management:
Due to burden, students often fail to manage the time. Busy lifestyle of students leads them towards the poor time management, it is hard for them schedule their lives in a good way and to find a good balance, between social activities and the studies. Working students are very busy rather than the students who do not work; to manage the lives with planned schedule is very difficult. Student need parents and teachers support to manage their routines in a good way; the teachers and professors of LIU, often do not understand the bust schedule of students and give them difficult and complex tasks every day.
When it has come to assignments and projects in LIU, they are hard to do, and need much time. Students feel stresses in doing all those assigned tasks. Students have dead lines of the projects due to poor time management they repeatedly fail to handle; some students of them do the assignments and do not sleep at night, and due to this, they may become frustrate and fails to perform everyday life activities. To work at night is very unhealthy habit; there should discipline in one’s life and guidance in needed in this way (liu.edu, 2016).
Due to poor management of time, students face problems with group mates, everybody wants to perform better and the students who face the problems compliant their peer. Teachers sometimes make the groups in the class, the students who are unfamiliar with one another and have different social backgrounds; this is also problematic and can create misunderstandings or conflicts within the group members. A person may face stress due to problems and conflicts, and his performance will be affected (Grove, 2016).
Relationships and Cultural Backgrounds:
The students of the universities face problems in making new friends, for new people and international students it is harder, university for them is the new chapter in their lives, they meet different people from different background and it will hard for them to choose between people. Student’s life is based on his friends and company he lives in, if he makes friends who are not serious in the studies then his future will be finished. In LIU, there are people from different background and beliefs but there are respect for every culture and religion. The students who have good friends who are serious in the study and perform better are performing better in class than other who are having bad companies.
Relationships matter a lot in university lives; the attraction between opposite sexes and within the sexes is common in the university students. Students of opposite sexes and from different background when interact each other they have attractions and want to get closer. This may be a temporary charm, but it can lead them towards non-serious behaviors, their performances are also affected (macalester, 2015).
The relationship problems are often discussed by the students and they less concentrate in studies, the university student need someone to share their problems and stories. They get in relationships so quickly sometime relationship improves their performances and motivate them to work hard. Teachers should be supportive in this way, but teachers often criticize the students and pressurize them. Teachers need to teach the student that there is the need to accept and respect all the individuals. Teachers do not notice, about personal lives of students, however, there is need to focus and tell the student to love yourself and others.
Long Island University is a big change in one life, new student might feel lonely and for him different environment could be a challenge. The unsecure feeling can make the student less confident and even confident students become dull when they feel lonely, teachers do not feel one situation, and stress of studies is there.
Examination System:
The examination system of the U.S universities is very difficult, In LIU there are semester system programs, students are not evaluated based on their abilities but not based on class performance, and students spend so many times in doing their exam paper, which is very stressful. They mostly do not get the grade what they desire of, which discourage them and affect their performance. The proper evaluation techniques are not applied. It is very common that most of the students face stress during exam days some have fear that they will be unable to complete their tasks before exams, this is the reason they do not show the best or better performances. Teachers do not give time to the students to be relaxed; students are not fully prepared for the exam (Ebersole, 2013).
Students rapidly reported that they feel so much stress in exam and due to this, they face physical and psychological illness. Students also complaints that teachers give them so many homework and exam paper; there are not effective strategies, that make student able to do work.
No time for Co-curricular Activities:
Students of LIU hardly get the time for co-curricular activities; very few university students play the games, because they have no time due to burden of assignments and projects. Student who play sports are not given advantages in studies. They have to maintain their study courses and sports together, and if they give excess time to the games or co-curricular activities, they may be failing in the exam. Therefore, there is lack of encouragement and motivation, there are so many problems in daily life, one mind and body needs to relax to reduce the stress, and stress related possessions. As a university student, to deal with the stress exercising daily is the best way. Exercise and co-curricular activities make the person to feel good. Students cannot get time to do exercise, this is the reason they are not healthy and faces the mental and physical stress.
However in LIU, there are fitness programs, fitness centre and club sports opportunities for students. One can play basketball, soccer, ping-pong and badminton in free time. Recreational sport is for the staff, faculty and alumni (liu.edu, 2016).
Family Factors:
I have seen many student in LIU, who do not want to go home in vacations, because they are not happy at home, there family influences on them to work hard for better results and if they do not work hard or they if they bad marks or result family criticize them, so they chose not to go home. They may also feel pressure from peer-group that they are performing better in universities, these factors can influence student tendency to learn (liu.edu, 2016).
One can also have some other family issue example single parent, poverty or divorce. He/she may face violence and poverty in his/her home. Teachers and professors do not want to understand one’s problems; they just keep on giving homework and tasks, one may face failure in such difficult and stressful situations.
First Semester in Long Island University:
As a new or international student one may faces many problems, there could be many obstacles in university or academic environment. New assignment could be a challenge for one student; one may be asses or graded on how he/ she participate in the class and how he/she perform. It is hard for new student to understand the assessment criteria of the institute. There are tough challenges because one is not familiar with the structure and function of university.
In LIU and other universities in U.S, professors and teachers, do collaboration with the student and encourage them to participate in class activities. There are growth and development of students in first semester (liu.edu, 2016). They facilitate the students during and after their office hours. For international students there are also instructors who guide them as they face cultural changes (Hopkins, 2012). As students are exposed to many new subjects, teachers provide them guidance regarding new courses or subjects, extra classes and tuitions are given to international students if they any difficulty in lectures (pridelearningcenter, 2012).
Conclusion:
Studying and teaches in LIU universities become a big challenge in modern era. U.S department of education need to create the conditions that are beneficial for students and lead them and country towards success, the mission of universities should be, to improve the strategies regarding course outline and they should focuses on student’s engagement and commitment.
Expertise need to evaluates the student and then make the policies accordingly; the policies that are supportive for the students. There should be balance in one’s life; the curriculum should be well balances so student may not face the mental, emotional, physical and financial stress.
References:
- blogspot. (2012, September 16). Most Common Problems Students Face at University. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from https://preston-uni.blogspot.com/2012/09/most-common-problems-students-face-at.html
- Ebersole, J. (2013, January 13). Top Issues Facing Higher Education In 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnebersole/2014/01/13/top-issues-facing-higher-education-in-2014/#5ecf65cb1024
- elenalpm. (2013, Feburary 18). #5 Top 10 Problems Faced by University Students. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from https://elenalpm.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/top-10-problems-faced-by-university-studentst/
- Grove, J. (2016, March 17). https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/student-experience-survey-2016-universities-get-it-right. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from Student Experience Survey 2016: universities that get it right
- Hopkins, K. (2012, Auguest 28). 6 Challenges for International Students in College. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2012/08/28/6-challenges-for-international-students-in-college
- Larédo, P. (2016). Six major challenges facing public intervention in higher education, science, technology and innovation. 30 (1), 4-12.
- liu.edu. (2016). Intramural Sports. Retrieved March 21, 2016, from https://liu.edu/CWPost/Campus-Life
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