Tips for Students
Written By: Alyssa Hoffman
Whether you are starting your first semester of university or have been here for a while, I have included some tips for us to survive the crazy adventure that university is.
First, I highly recommend that if your professor gives the outline for any papers or reports for the class, start something early. The more you can do earlier in the semester, the less swamped you will become when midterms or finals start to come around. If nothing else, if you can come up with your research question or thesis statement, it will allow you to brainstorm as the class goes on. This will not work for every situation, especially if you require information from the class, but even if you can get ahead of some of your classes it will help.
The second thing I recommend is to learn how to study. The same techniques might not work for every student, so finding how you remember best is important. It can be quite different from high school and quite difficult to do without effort. Learning how to study can take a lot of work, but once it becomes muscle memory, everything will be easier. Also, find what location works for you. Some people like that the quiet part of the library is away from distractions, others like the group study area to study with friends. Some students find that the library isn’t the right place for them and prefer their houses or Tegler. I find I study best in the hallways or empty classrooms. But wherever you study, make sure you take periodic breaks and keep yourself hydrated. A big thing I should put out there is: do not be afraid to speak up in class, whether you don’t understand something or you think you have something to add.A lot of professors appreciate student participation. Also, talking in class is often required for class participation marks or presentations, so getting at least semi-comfortable with it is important to your success, even though it might still be intimidating or scary.
One last thing that comes with being a student, which I just recently learned how important it is, is self-care. In the research I participated in conducting, it was found that self-care, specifically mindful awareness, significantly improved the participants' mood. Mindful awareness is the process of being present in the moment. It can look many different ways, from emotional awareness, and physical awareness, to spatial awareness. Even just taking five minutes out of your day to ground yourself in the present moment can have a significant impact. With how stressed we students are, taking part in mindfulness and self-care of all kinds is incredibly important to our mental health. Taking a walk in nature or doing something you enjoy can also be great ways to improve your mood, even just temporarily. I cannot stress my last point enough, get enough sleep. It allows your body to heal and form memories from the day.
