As I enter my second semester of third year university, I find it harder and harder to get up in the morning and actually put on a decent outfit. Don’t get me wrong, I love sweats as much as the next person, however I feel that at this point in my university career, I need to start presenting myself the same way I would in a work environment.
“Students dress in a matter to which they are comfortable,” says Ken Craft, UNBSJ’s student employment counselor. Craft believes that it’s probably rarer to find somebody wearing a tie around campus now-a-days.
Alicia Brink, Lakehead University English Masters Student, states that students in her program dress in a way that identifies themselves as a professional to faculty. As you begin to enter your third and fourth years, you begin to align yourself with your professors, versus other undergraduates. The master students treat school like it’s their career.
With that said, I’m not telling you to come to school in dress pants and a blazer, but that the way you dress identifies how you’re perceived in society. University is a chapter in your life where you are constantly meeting professionals. Dress how you want to be viewed.
As somebody who has had 5 jobs on the UNBSJ campus, I feel it’s important for students to keep in mind the types of people around them every day; whether it’s an employer or professor whom you will want a reference letter from in the future.
One piece of advice that Craft had for students when thinking about what to wear in the mornings is dressing up for presentations, “dressing up tends to make you more confident.” I suggest taking this advice and applying it to everyday life.
So the next time you are getting ready for university in the morning, think twice before putting on the sweats.
