#university studyspo

not sure if i’ve posted these but some notes from my first few cognitive lectures <3

HOW TO SURVIVE UNIVERSITY AS A FIRST-YEAR STUDENT

So! I am currently in my first-year at University but I’ve been studying for a couple of months now and feel as though I have enough information and experience to make this post!

MANAGE YOUR TIME

Whether it’s a timetable, to-do list, writing in your planner - you need some sort of method to manage your time and note what tasks you need to do and when. Set a specific time for each class and plan your own class schedule. Even better, study for your classes at the same time they should be held. This will create a sense of routine and make things so much easier. Find what works for you! Your perfect system won’t work great for your friends! There’s no shame in not being able to keep up with the schedule you’ve made. If you’ve tried or if it hurts you mentally or physically, then that schedule is just not the one for you. Finding a system that works for you takes time, patience, and courage. but it will be absolutely worth it. Find yourself a routine that works best for you! I know that my method doesn’t work well for my peers: I make a to-do list for the week and note down the tasks I want to do for each day and do a little bit everyday but I know some people would rather do everything in two days and have the rest of the week free! Below I’ve showed how I organise my week:

BE ACTIVELY ENGAGED

In your lectures and seminars, engage!!! Ask questions, answer questions, take part in the discussions!! It’ll help you retain the content much easier and you’ll enjoy learning so much more compared to just sitting there mindlessly listening. Take notes, even if you can record your lessons and/or access the lessons later. This will force you into focusing and minimise the chance of you getting distracted and zoning out. If you have any face-to-face lecture/seminars then it’s a good idea to sit in the first few rows, towards the front - again, this minimises the chance of you zoning out and increases the chance of you engaging.

ACCOMMODATE YOURSELF

Accommodate yourself, not just with comfort, but also with actual necessities that you cannot usually get in your usual classroom/library due to whatever reason. Whether it be stress balls, stim toys, motivational cards, calming music/candles. comfort items. chewing gum. As long as it helps you focus better, keep it with you. Other necessities may be water, a snack, sticky notes etc. Make sure to declutter your study space. put your phone out of reach & turn off notifications. If you have problems with this, I recommend using an app called Forest or putting your phone in another room.

FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU

I know that I will start a lecture around 9/10am. But all mine is asynchronous (narrated powerpoint or videos) and so I will sit for literally two hours just listening to the lecture trying to take notes but very quickly losing focus. I’ve now realised that I can make notes from the powerpoint slides, and then use the narrations/videos for when I want more detail or don’t understand something. This saved me a lot of time, cutting down my time spent on one lecture from around 70 minutes, to 35. This gives me more time to start other content, work on my assignments, and give myself the breaks I need to work efficiently.

WORK TOWARDS YOUR CAREER

Since more and more people go to universities each year, the job market is becoming increasingly competitive for academics. It is important that you obtain skills outside of your studies – for example through societies or volunteer work. Just find something that’s fun and doesn’t feel like another burden. You might also want to become a student representative or part of a student parliament if your university has one. Your university’s career service provides you with tips and resources for a good start into your work life. Things are competitive - find something to make you stand out. Examples of things I’ve done (not just at university) include: Senior Prefect, write and directed my own play for younger students to perform, TEFL course, taught at an Arabic school, volunteered as a youth worker, Duke of Edinburgh Award, Course Representative etc.

MAKE FRIENDS

Being at university can be lonely. You might have moved to a different place, you’re faced with new challenges, and you might find that adult life is not at all like you imagined. Having someone to talk to is important. Good thing that it’s never easier to make friends than at university. You are surrounded by people your age (and it’s actually a lot easier to not see people you don’t like than it is in school.)

Fresher’s week is full of opportunities to meet new people! Check out the societies at the fresher’s fair. In the UK, there are usually societies for every niche interest you can think of. You might end up not actually going, but sometimes you still keep a friend. Another idea is to make a group chat with people in your classes - introduce yourself to the people sitting next to you. Ask them if they would like to go to lunch together, check out the library etc.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

University is not all about working 24/7 and pushing yourself. Listen to your mind and body. It’s normal and okay to feel lost or overwhelmed. Please take care of your mental and physical well-being during this very, very weird time. Keep yourself active. Re-ignite old interests/ hobbies. Give yourself some love. A tip I always give to people is to have some sort of creative/kinaesthetic hobby - whether it’s writing, art, embroidery, making collages, journalling etc. Having some sort of fun creative outlet is just what I need when I don’t want to do work but still want to be a little productive. Make sure you’re eating enough, and make sure you’re getting at least 8 hours of sleep. Take care of your body.

MISC TIPS

• Make cheatsheets to revise from
• See if your university offers free/discounted versions of resources like MS Word etc
• Talk to your tutors. Get to know them so they know who you are.
• Don’t be afraid to ask you tutors for help - that is what they are there for. They LOVE students that are self-advocates for their own learning.
• Give yourself breaks.
• Learn your methods. Learn how to use whatever resources / software your university uses. Learn what study styles work best for you.

I’ve not posted in a hot minute! Between university and my Animal Crossing obsession I completely forgot I even had a study blog - sorry guys!

Handed in my first assignment on Wednesday. Kinda nervous about it but it’s a 40% pass mark and it’s a pass/fail so hopefully should be fine!!

Here is a little view of my desk! I need to order more of those pen organisers because they don’t fit even half of my stationary in

Now the study has been decorated I can finally post my own notes!! So here are some from my first two lectures in Cognitive & Biological Psychology!

Taken from my studygram!

01/12/12, 09:54

Good morning!! Long time no see I’m studying in a cafe today! Deadline season is here and I hate it.

- Oathbringer (Brandon Sanderson)

01/04/2022, 15:36

It’s the last day of Easter Term! I am exhausted.

This photo is from a few days ago, I studied in town with a friend. Currently I’m just working on essays and feeling so so so tired.

“If you want to be proud of yourself, then do things in which you can take pride.” – Karen Horney

29/07/2021, Thursday.

The past semester was a tough one! A string of lectures, laboratories and projects left no time for anything else.

The past academical year had been intense. I was excited to start and afraid to fail. It is over now, if I look back I could not be more proud of myself! I worked hard and passed every single exam with the maximum score, I would have never thought I could achieve these results.

Catching up:

✔ Advanced Physical Chemistry Laboratory: exam was on the 1st June. It was the third and last part of an annual course! I do not have to think about it anymore.

✔ Advanced Analytical Chemistry Laboratory: my group and I had to make a presentation on the 2nd July, we focused on soil and water elemental analysis. It had been difficult to focus on the presentation having so much else to study! I do not know how, but we managed.

✔ Analytical Chemistry: Environments and Materials: it has been interesting to study environmental chemistry. Understanding the mechanisms nature uses to defend itself against changes offered me the opportunity to reflect upon the anthropogenic impact on earth. Exam was on the 21st June.

✔ Physical Chemistry: Catalysis and Materials: it was the hardest one. The amount of material was insane and I felt submerged by it! In addition to the regular study hours (6-9 h a day) I had to present a project. It consisted in a graphical abstract, the image summarised the development of a new material. I presented it on the 26th July.

I am on vacation till the new academical year, my mind is a swirl of thoughts on how I should spend my time… Should I rest 2 months? Should I prepare for next year revising old topics? Should I find a traineeship?

“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” - William James

21/04/2021, Wednesday.

Advanced Physical Chemistry Laboratory ended on March 31st. My group and I decided to be done with the report by this Friday, April 23rd. To make the work more enjoyable, I write and review from the balcony on my @onyxboox Note Air e-ink tablet

Advanced Analytical Chemistry Laboratory has stated on April 12th, I am enjoying it so far! We are running analysis on samples of our choice. My group picked: old tea cups, little paintings on gold supports, soils, almonds, a Bahamian banknote and a Coastal batik. It will be interesting to put it all together for the final presentation

Big news: lectures are held both on-line and in class. I cannot stat to express my joy

Studying home has its perks, but Italians lockdowns have been mentally difficult for me (and many others). Even though Piedmont (my region) is constantly shifting between slightly different restrictions, I have seen no difference in my day to day life; As my activities pre-pandemic were: attend university; workout at the gym (which has been closed from Novembre 2020, opening again who knows when); spend time with S. (thankfully I managed to keep doing it)

“The harder I work, the luckier I get” - Samuel Goldwyn

27/03/2021 , Saturday.

Catching up:

Winter exam session was brilliant. I passed three exams -Advanced Analytical Chemistry, Advanced Macromolecules Chemistry and Advanced Physical Chemistry- with the highest grade possible

It was difficult in the beginning, I thought I would not make it! I never passed more than two exams each session, and it never occurred to me to score this high. I am proud!

Exams ended on March 1st. On March 8th I was already projected in the new semester.

Courses:

• Advanced Physical Chemistry Laboratory;
• Advanced Analytical Chemistry Laboratory;
• Analytical Chemistry: Environments and Materials;
• Physical Chemistry: Catalysis and Materials.

The labs are strictly linked to previous semester courses, while the remaining two I chose (I reached the point, I can finally customize my academical curriculum) ‍

At present:

I am currently attending Advanced Physical Chemistry Lab. Although I am not fond of the subject itself, I enjoy being back at university! ⚗️

In Italy it is still not permitted to attend lectures first person. I continue to spend most of my time on the computer. The situation is better than few month ago thanks to @onyxboox Note Air! I can’t do everything on it, but it hugely helps. I recently bought a bluetooth keyboard (Logitech, K380) and my e-ink tablet turned nearly into a computer ⌨

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing” - Walt Disney

02/11/2020, Wednesday.

I started my laurea magistrale on the 28th September. Till now, I have been able to attend my lectures. The university has created an app to reserve your seat, it gives you a QR code to access the structure! ☺️

I do not know for how long we are allowed to go there! There has to be an announcement tonight/tomorrow. Worst scenario: everyone goes back to online mode! I fear I won’t be able to attend my lab this semester (6 afternoons! Just 6, let me do them!)

So far, I am attending three courses:

• Advanced macromolecular chemistry;
• Advanced physical chemistry;
• Advanced analytical chemistry.

I decided to attend fewer courses than the average student. My hope is to better focus on these and get rid of them as soon as possible (winter exam period: late January -> early March) with the highest grade I can achieve

After 5 years, I finally have a proper desk! Before I studied in the dining room (luckily it was rare I had something left to do at home, I managed to finish everything at university)… I am creating my study space, it was about time! It is important to me, especially because I’ll be doing most of my work at home

“Starting is not most people’s problem, staying, continuing and finishing is.” - Darren Hardy

09/09/2020, Wednesday.

Advanced Inorganic Chemistry: yesterday I got the result, 28/30 it is a remarkable grade, especially with this professor. I am satisfied!

Passing the exam means I am free from university till the beginning of the lectures (it seems on the 28th September). I finally can rest, without worrying about my next step or study session or exam

It is the first time I relax for real after graduation! Bonus point: it’ll be the first birthday without working (25th September)

I know it may sound strange (considering the global situation), but I believe 2020 is my year! I graduated, passed two exams with excellents grades (gaining time during the actual master degree or laurea magistrale), had improvements done in the house (fells more mine now), kept up with training (I never look this good and never felt this healthy and energetic!) and my relation with S. is still solid