This post will be written under slightly different circumstances than my previous post, since this is my end of term test in ‘Blogging’, which I like to refer to as ‘Blogging under Pressure’. I’ve written about lots of different issues which were linked to student life somehow and since the semester’s almost over (today is my last day and this is my last exam) I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to pass on some tips and tricks which might make up-coming semester(s) easier to survive.
Tip No.1: Pay special attention during the first session of every course. Even more so when you have a class with a professor you’ve never had before. Since you don’t know the professor in question you likely also won’t know to what he or she pays special attention to. All the notes you take during that first session will help you a lot, and I often find myself going back to these notes. More often than not those notes will be the most detailed and helpful when it comes to handing in papers and written assignments, because every professor is different and focuses her attention on different things.
Tip No. 2: Attend as many sessions as you can if you have lots of lectures. This fortunately hasn’t been the case for me this semester but I thought it would still be a good point for other students that might stumble across this post. The thing is that lectures (VOs - Vorlesungen) tend to be tough because you mostly only sit there for an hour and a half while the professor goes on and on about a particular topic. Some lectures can be really interesting but everyone has a bad day every once in a while and just can’t be bothered to make his way to university for ‘just one lecture’. After all you can read the scripted course notes at home anyway since they can be found online on Blackboard. WRONG! Believe me when I say that you will probably never ever read or even look at these particular course notes until two or three days before the exam. I know how that sounds but I am a student and I know my kind. So, if you want to make your life a lot easier, try to attend class as often as you can. Otherwise you’ll probably want to kill yourself towards the end of the semester when you have to catch up on a year’s worth of course materials in four different lectures within a week or two. It won’t end well for you or your grades.
Tip No. 3: Start early enough with your research when it comes to writing papers. I know how these things usually go: you think you have it all under control and have a rough idea of what you’re going to write. That’s all well and good but if you are in your later semesters you professors expect more than eight to ten pages per paper. I am in my fifth semester now and I had to hand in two papers: one around 20,000 characters with spacing and the other one around 4000 words, which is almost the same length. But it translates into twelve or thirteen written pages, so a ‘rough idea’ about your topic isn’t going to cut it, believe me! I am quite proud of myself for how well I organized things this time around and the so-called ‘key to success’ lies in early research. I spent lots of time in the library about a month before starting to write an outline because the better you are prepared, the better and easier the writing process will be. Of course you could also end up doing too much research, in which case you end up swamped with information and not having a clue about how to process it all. But so far that hasn’t happened and probably never will.
Tip No. 4: Another important thing not to forget are your friends. ‘Social obligations’ might not seem very important in the grand scheme of things but turning into a hermit is not the way to go about things either! Make sure you have enough time to complete your assignments but also make time for your friends; they will thank you dearly. After all, if you only emerge every once in a while from your ‘cave’, that doesn’t do you any good either. Set a clear schedule with time for university and time for friends, so they balance each other out. More often than not you will return to your desk reinvigorated and full of inspiration because you took the time not to think about university for a moment. Your friends will help you keep your mind off things and share the latest news and gossip form your dorm. It’s a win/win situation.
Tip No. 5: During midterm and finals week, sustenance is the key word! You will probably laugh now and haughtily shake your head because really, who has ever heard of a student starving to death! As I already said, I have lived through and survived enough semesters now to know what I am talking about when I say that food is important. The thing is that we probably mean different things when I say ‘food’. Obviously I mean regular meals. What I don’t mean is eating pizza every day because you don’t have time or just can’t be bothered to stand at the stove for half an hour. Midterms and finals can be stressful but if you don’t keep up your strength by eating at least semi-healthy foods, you will be exhausted before you see the light at the end of the tunnel. Check out rockelfe’s post ‘A Tasty Insight’ for some tips and tricks about cooking that don’t rely on pizza from Hofer or their tomato sauce, which goes perfectly well with spaghetti... but contains neither vitamins nor minerals which you need to keep going during finals week.
Tip No. 6: Sleep! I know that most students think that trivial matters such as food and sleep are overrated, but they’re not! You can party the night away if you want, just don’t do it more often than you can handle. While it’s great fun, the lack of sleep will catch up with you eventually, and that happens most often during midterms… All the parties take place at the beginning of the semester to get things off to a fun start. So once they’re all over (and you’ve attended 95% of them), midterms will be right around the corner and then, things aren’t going to be pretty. To sum it up: hit the clubs but not too hard so it won’t affect your course work and participation.
I hope these tips and tricks will be helpful to some of you. But don’t forget: have fun during your time as a student and enjoy it as much as you can!
Yours truly,
Michelle
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