Advice for new students: Join a CBS club and don’t forget to have fun
More than 2.000 students attended CBS' new initiative: the Bachelor Kick-off in September. Photo: Ida Eriksen
Thursday 1 September, new students at CBS were welcomed at the first ever Bachelor Kick-off event at KB Hallen. Here, students were given advice on how to cope with student life while also managing the stress of entering a new whole era of their lives. The main tip of the day: Remember to take breaks and have fun.
News | 06. Sep 2022
Beginning a new chapter in your life – not least one that will affect your entire future – can be tricky. The wellbeing of new students was therefore a central theme at the recently instated Bachelor Kick-off event, hosted by the Study Administration at CBS.
Here CBS freshers were welcomed at KB Hallen for a morning of talks on how to cope with feelings of doubt, failure and insecurity.
“Student wellbeing is a topic that concerns us at CBS. When I began my studies in Aarhus, many years ago, I was not very social. I spent all my time studying. But I encourage you to get involved – join a CBS club and make friends,” CBS President Nikolaj Malchow-Møller encouraged the many students attending the Bachelor Kick-off on 1 September.
Similar advice was given by multiple speakers, for example President of CBS Students Mikkel Wallind:
“Many of us take a long time adapting to university life. What helped me was joining the student union. My advice is to actively engage with social communities at CBS – we have more than 100 student organisations to choose from,” he said.
Another tip urged new students to accept that they can’t excel at everything all the time.
“I was very unsure of my skills when I began studying at CBS. I started out getting bad grades but learned along the way that it was OK. You can’t master every subject,” Mikkel Wallind continued.
The same experience was passed on by Sofie H. Hammerstrøm, a CBS student from Service Management:
“When I started studying, I was very focused on having the perfect student job, getting top grades and just kicking ass at everything. But I totally forgot to take breaks and get a coffee. So my advice to you is that it is OK to fail. Just learn from your mistakes and move on,” she told the captivated crowd.
CBS President Nikolaj Malchow-Møller and President of CBS Students, Mikkel Wallind, both stressed the need for new students to engage themselves in social activities. (Photo: Ida Eriksen)
Don’t go chasing happiness – it will make you miserable
In addition to the CBS President and students sharing their experiences of student life, psychologist and celebrity researcher Svend Brinkman talked about happiness while participating in the Bachelor Kick-off.
He stressed the need for doing activities for their own sake – for example, reading and studying because you find it interesting and not solely because you want good grades.
The idea that happiness is a choice we can make as individuals is a dangerous fantasy, in my opinion
Svend Brinkmann, professor and psychologist
He also agreed that the students’ thoughts on taking breaks and doing something they enjoy are valuable.
“Happiness comes from activities we pursue for their own sake – not the things we do to reach an instrumental goal. So, remember to include activities with intrinsic value while studying. Perhaps talking to friends, walking in nature, making love or going to the theatre,” he said.
He also warned against pursuing happiness. That is a shortcut to being miserable, he underlined.
“Todays’ striving for happiness almost guarantees failure. The idea that happiness is a choice we can make as individuals is a dangerous fantasy, in my opinion. Because even though we can influence our lives, there is a lot we cannot control, for example loss, illness and the solitude brought by a corona pandemic,” he said, and added:
“Instead, we should focus more on being good human beings. Taking care of each other and engaging in society because it is the right thing to do. And then the blessing is you’ll probably end up happy as a side effect.”
Svend Brinkmann advised the new students not to strive too hard to be happy. (Photo: Ida Eriksen)
A good day
The Bachelor Kick-off event included presentations of different CBS study programmes as well as a closing performance by the soul singer Iris Gold.
“It was a really interesting day – especially the part where various professors talked about why we should or should not attend their education programmes. However, I would have loved to hear from more than four professors representing management, philosophy, law and accounting,” said Lærke, who is a new student of Shipping and Trade at CBS.
Three of the students, who attended the Bachelor Kick-off. To the far right is Lærke. (Photo: Ida Eriksen)
This sentiment was shared by several students CBS WIRE encountered at the event.
“I loved the professors’ debate, as I gained plenty of insight into different courses. It will be useful if I choose to switch my master’s programme one day,” Søren, a new BSc student of Economics and Business Administration, explained.
The Bachelor Kick-off event has replaced the previous CBS Responsibility Day and will be repeated next year.
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