Hello, Blogettes!

It's been MONTHS since I've written on my blog, but I've kind of had writer's block. I've missed blogging but have been drawing a blank as to what to write so I just kind of stopped...

I figured since school is now back in session (minus the poor kiddlings affected by the strike here in BC), this would be a fantastic time to write some of my top, personal tips for surviving university! I'm officially in my final semester of my undergrad and will be completing my BSW this December - eep! So surreal. I feel so accomplished to be in my fourth year/on my final semester of my undergrad and I've only been 21 for oh, about 5 days (my birthday was on the 1st). It's definitely been a journey getting to where I am now and well, these are some of the things that I've learned along the way. 

Note: I'm going to get real with you guys and these are just some of the things that worked for me personally so they might not apply to all of you. Pick and choose as you will. Also, I'm going to try and throw in some of my tips for surviving online courses for those who are just starting out or are looking into taking DE (distance education) courses. It's what I've been doing the past 2 semesters.

1. Organization is KEY!

I could not survive without being organized! You don't have to be a complete organization freak, but you need to be organize at least to a certain extent. For me, the most important part is having my all my due dates, tests, exams, quizzes, etc. in check and labeled in my calendar. If I don't know my due dates, it makes me super anxious because I'll always been worried I missed an assignment. Organization his has become particularly important now that I take online classes because I don't have my prof reminding me of assignments due every time I go to class. Also, if I miss a learning activity, the incompletion could literally lead me to fail a course.

One thing I like is to have a planner as my to-do list so I don't forget things, but my ultimate love is my MacBook Pro because it has the iCal, which I've been using it for years now. It's become my best friend. I also have hard copy calendars stuck onto my wall with due dates for each of my courses because having hard copies of stuff is nice when everything else is online (I didn't used to do this for on-campus courses). Just to give you an idea of how I stay on top of my stuff, here's a screenshot of what my calendar looked like in March when I was taking 5 DE courses plus working 16 hours each week (I took out some personal notes on my calendar, 'cos yenno. It's personal).

2. Time Management & Prioritization

This kind of goes with organization but I decided to put it separately because in order to stay on top of all your stuff, you have to be able to manage your time wisely. I'm not going to lie and act as if I never procrastinated and ended up on YouTube for longer than I should have been, but I think part of me mentally planned for that. You have to prioritize what needs to get done first and what can be done longer. Find what works for you. For example, which do you prefer? Finishing the smaller, easier assignments first or getting the big, pain-in-the-ass assignment done first? Sometimes I do the nerdy thing and do different assignments when I need a break from a different assignment. Some assignments just suck less than others, yenno?

3. Finding a Sense of Balance

Learn to decipher between play time and when it's time to buckle down and focus. University can be life-consuming but you can't neglect to also relax and take care of yourself. Use tip #2 to find time to squeeze in something that you enjoy doing. For me, I like to make sure I have time to play the piano/guitar or sing. That or sometimes I reward myself with a movie when I complete a big assignment. You guys can't lie and tell me you have absolutely NO time for any of that because please, if you stayed focus and finished your assignment instead of procrastinating, you could combine that time and get a movie out of it or indulge in whatever hobby you like. What we like to call this in social work is self-care!!! Helps prevent you from burning out. (Ha-ha, I'm laughing to myself because they're both SW-related terms. Nerd alert!)

Also, try and limit the partying. This might be biased since I'm not much of a partier, as I'd much rather stay home and watch a movie, but I know many university/college students who love to party. I have nothing against partying, as it is fine and dandy on a regular weekend, but try to refrain from partying all night when you know you have to work on a major paper that's due tomorrow night. Save the partying for after the paper's been printed and submitted. You're not paying ~$500 (give or take depending on your school) for a course just to do subpar in it, right? At least, I hope not. You'll have lots of time to party later. 

4. Do Your Readings

You'd be amazed at how much information is in your textbook. Just read it. Doooooo it! I know it sucks but it'll help you loads, I promise. The ideal is doing it before your classes because then the information you hear in class isn't brand new and instead, will be reiterated and often said in a different way so you'll remember it better. I always liked going to a lecture and being able to think, "Hey! I actually know what we're talking about!" Made me feel smart. I know it can actually be impossible to do all your readings, but at least get some done if possible or prioritize between your classes. Also, write notes while you read if you find it helpful (I hate doing this, even though it was handy sometimes) or highlight important sections as you read (I know some people who doing hate this, but as much as I hate writing in books, highlighting really works for me).

5. Pay Attention in Class & Take Notes

You'd think that goes without saying, but I can tell you of many times when I would just zone out in classes 'cos my profs were so incredibly dull or the content was excruciatingly boring. Despite how hard it can be, paying attention is really important. Some profs might drop hints of things that you should focus on for your upcoming exams so it'll be nice to know which areas to focus more on. Furthermore, write notes! Unless you're super amazing and retain everything you hear (and I hate you out of pure envy if you can do that), chances are, you'll need to notes to remind you of what you learned in class that day. Notes are awesome references when studying. They can also give you a nice laugh when you go back to read them and realize you were writing so fast that what you wrote made no sense. I'm totally guilty of doing this. Also, for note taking, find what works best for you (i.e. handwritten or laptop). I found that it was almost impossible for me to keep up if I handwrite notes in certain classes, but it worked for other classes. Or print out slides if your profs have them online for you before classes. You can print them 4 slides per page and print double-sided to save paper. Then you can just add extra notes onto them during class!

6. Make Connections With Your Classmates

This can be hard if you're often like me where I have the habit of going into what I like to call "anti-social mode" where I don't like talking to or associating with other people; however, try to connect with at least one classmate in each of your classes. This way, you'll have someone to ask for notes if you miss a class/someone to bitch with if you mutually hate the course and/or prof :)

7. Watch Your Own Back...

...when doing group projects. Group projects suck. I hate them and they get infinitely worse if you have that one useless person in your group. Set boundaries as best as you can so you can avoid this next part... As much as I despise having to do this, you have to remember that even though you'll all get a shared mark, sometimes you're going to have to pick up others' slack. You can, and are allowed, to hate every moment of it, but ultimately, if it has to get done, it has to get done. If you've tried every tactic to try and get them to do it (i.e. talked to them directly, discussed it with your prof, etc.) and they still don't do it, don't let their incompetency bring you down! I'm sure you'd want to do exactly what I would, which is to simply not do it just to spite them but who ends up suffering in the end? You do. If you believe that you are an A-student, don't let one person's slack bring you down. It's your education, your future. Put it in no one's hands but your own.

8. Sleep

I am not one of those people who can function well without sufficient sleep. I cannot run on multiple days of 4 hours of sleep per night. I know some people who can, but my body physically does not allow me to do that. I've never truly pulled an all-nighter because honestly, after a certain level of fatigue, I'm not even retaining what I'm trying study anymore. It's such a waste of time for me to continue fake-studying so that's when I call it a night. Find what works for you. If you find you need extra energy during the day, take a power nap. And by power nap, I mean a nap between 20-30 minutes. Not 2-3 hours. I'm sure many of you have heard, but just in case you haven't... if sleep longer than 30 minutes, you'll start to fall into a deep sleep so you'll actually end up waking up even more tired so don't do it. If you're scared you'll just hit snooze or turn it off, put your alarm on super loud and somewhere far from your bed so you'll have to physically get up to turn it off and then stay off your bed! Don't even think about laying back down because if you do, it's game over. Seriously.

Okay, I think those are all the top tips I can think of right now. I just want to say that I'm not trying/going to tell you guys have to live your lives because it's your life so do as you wish. These are some of the things I found to work for me. I should also note that I've only ever taken 5 courses at a time except for last semester and this semester because I've been completing my practicums. My practicums are worth the equivalent of 3 courses so working full time on top of 2 courses equates to 5 courses anyways. We all have different lives/situations so like I said, pick and choose as you please and find what works for you. Hopefully some of these tips are helpful and work for you guys. Please feel free to leave me some tips that you find are helpful/have worked for you! I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.

Hope you guys have a successful semester! Happy studying and good luck!

Jen

(PS this post is actually dated September 5, 2014)