Some of our First Year students wanted to share helpful information that they think would have stopped them getting stressed during the year and when it finally came to exam time.
When I first began this degree I wish I’d known a few very important things for succeeding in any university environment. Firstly the importance of independent learning, and what to do outside of lectures to make sure I could gain as much as possible.
The best tips I could give to achieve this would be to check the lecture beforehand, even print off the slides so you can keep up in the lecture – this is particularly useful as you can continuously and actively learn, and it stops you from falling behind.
This is also followed by keeping up with your learning, and continuously checking your notes, and consolidating your knowledge as you go along; ideally this can then make revision much easier for your exams.
The best tips I could give to achieve this would be to check the lecture beforehand, even print off the slides so you can keep up in the lecture – this is particularly useful as you can continuously and actively learn, and it stops you from falling behind.
This is also followed by keeping up with your learning, and continuously checking your notes, and consolidating your knowledge as you go along; ideally this can then make revision much easier for your exams.
I wish that at the start of university I’d believed people when they told me you couldn’t learn everything. Having been used to the A-level system of having everything that you needed to know on a syllabus, it was very difficult getting used to not having set facts to learn.
In the real world, you realise that everything is a lot more complex than you initially thought- the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know. You have to come to the realisation that you just will never know everything.
My advice would be to learn the basics of all the key pathway concepts, and then to elaborate only on the areas that you find particularly interesting if there’s time.
You have to remember that university isn’t just about academic learning, it’s about learning how to look after yourself, making new friends, and having the time of your life. Make sure you save time for activities that you enjoy, or you’ll miss out.
In the real world, you realise that everything is a lot more complex than you initially thought- the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know. You have to come to the realisation that you just will never know everything.
My advice would be to learn the basics of all the key pathway concepts, and then to elaborate only on the areas that you find particularly interesting if there’s time.
You have to remember that university isn’t just about academic learning, it’s about learning how to look after yourself, making new friends, and having the time of your life. Make sure you save time for activities that you enjoy, or you’ll miss out.