Alumni advice: How to do MRU
Brennen French, Contributor
With the fall semester now in full swing, new students have flooded in, and graduating students are preparing for their university departure.
The pressure to make friends, get good grades, secure scholarships, and stay on track to graduate can feel daunting. But whether you’re in the thick of it or have been there, done that, nobody is alone in this journey—alumni included.
According to a 2023 Universities Canada report, 89 per cent of post-secondary students reported feeling overwhelmed while pursuing a post-secondary degree. Looking back at their time at Mount Royal University (MRU), two alumni shared what they wish they had done to mitigate feeling academically discouraged.
Getting involved
Policy Studies graduate from the 2021 cohort and current MRU Alumni Association council member, Mary Topchieva, says that getting involved on campus helped her find a home here at a young age.
“Something that I found very valuable is volunteering, getting involved a little bit more with the Mount Royal community,” she says. “Especially when you’re 17/18 and you’re coming to university—it’s very overwhelming.”
From attending New Student Orientation to giving your time to teach others through the Peer Learning Program, Topchieva emphasized the importance of putting yourself out there from the second you land on campus.
“Something that I would have done a little bit differently is get involved on day one,” she says. “Then in that first year, you have a community backing and you get to know other people who are probably in the second year or third year that can guide you and give you a little bit more advice.”
Aside from giving her a social circle, Topchieva says that branching out and meeting people from different disciplines enlightened her in ways that whiteboards, PowerPoints, and lecture halls could not.
“I started meeting people from other majors through my volunteering experience in the student union. And a lot of the lessons that I learned are that ‘there are some things that you can’t learn in a classroom.’”
Finding support through mentorship
Alexandra Swiston, 2018 graduate from the Business Administration program and current MRU Alumni Association council member, says receiving mentorship—whether informal or formal—provided her with guidance and reminded her she was not alone.
“The focus should be the relationships that you lean on when times are hard,” she says. “The reality is there are so many people in your life that will have really incredible impacts—if you don’t have that one person, maybe you have many.”
Some people prefer a more structured approach, so MRU offers a First-Year Mentorship Program, which welcomes students to join as either mentors or mentees.
When a student becomes a member of this program, they have numerous opportunities to network, form friendships, learn to set goals, and acquire the skills and insights that lead to success.
Transitioning into the workforce
The transition from university life to the workforce can bring financial difficulties, social isolation, and worrying about the grade point minimums for entry into other programs. For students who are nearing the end of their degree, these stresses surge.
Topchieva says that receiving scholarships is often a huge help in alleviating this, not only for the financial benefit, but also for the flashy addition on a resume.
“When I was finally in my third year, I started applying for those scholarships, and I actually got quite a few, something that I regret is not applying for them sooner, because financially, that can help you so much,” Topchieva says. “Any type of scholarship that you have actually makes a really good impression on any employer.”
The list of MRU applications, which are open during the Nov. 1 to March 1 window, can be accessed on the school’s website under the Scholarships & Bursaries tab.
In terms of looking for employment, Swiston believes many of the keys to success involve creating and understanding your own personal strengths and goals.
“Really put some thought into positioning how different experiences and your personal narrative really become part of your story…it’s really about framing or thinking through what you’ve been doing as part of your own skills and interests while positioning it in a way that’s meaningful to employers,” Swiston says.
So, do we have the means for success? Absolutely. Students are more than equipped to foster new relationships, meet mentors, get involved, apply for scholarships, and much more.
Moving forward, students should remember that school is important, but mental health is too. Given the amount of support and facilities, post-secondary education is meant to be a place where students can feel supported and grow.
Failure is nothing to be ashamed of in university—it is something that can push students to learn from their mistakes.
Swiston leaves with this: “I think when you go to university, it’s the number one place that you have the opportunity to try and fail as many times as you can.”
