January 8, 2013, by Shane

A Happy New Year’s

New Year’s Eve is always a hit or miss kinda night. There’s always a lot of pressure to be doing something crazy fun and sometimes all the hype can leave you thinking ‘was that it?’ Nights out can be expensive, if you live in London and decide to go see the fireworks you have to contend with the public transport and heaving crowds for a ten minute viewing of fireworks you would see better from your living room sofa. So I was apprehensive about New Year’s 2013.

However, it proved to be kinda awesome. My family and I spent New Year’s in London and I got to spend it with my cousins who live in South Africa. While we were there we went ice skating at the ice rink outside the natural history museum; a typical Christmas activity and I was super impressed I didn’t fall over once after not doing it in about six years!

We then went to Winter Wonderland and decided it was a great idea to eat foot long hotdogs before going on the rides (N.B. it was the wrong way round of doing things). Other highlights included visiting an ice-bar on New Year’s Eve. It was really cool (see what I did there) but the novelty wore off when I couldn’t feel my toes after half an hour. For the main event of NYE evening, we went out for dinner and then to a party, and on New Year ’s Day we visited Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum! Which is a museum … but full of cool, interesting stuff!

And now its 2013, the ‘fear’ has gripped students nationwide with looming January deadlines and exams, and all I want to do is spend all day at the cinema. There are some incredible films out I want to see. Alas, Gangster Squad and The Hobbit will have to wait until I’m out of the revision woods.

As for some handy revision tips this January, I love any excuse to eat food and studentbeans.com says these foods supercharge your brain to genius mode:

http://www.studentbeans.com/tenofthebest/i/eat-your-way-to-a-first/ten-best-exam-brain-foods-coffee1119.html

I also like to exercise regularly during revision periods to unleash all that built up stress that accumulates from too much time spent in the silent study area of the library. Even if it’s walking to and from the library, at least you’ll be including some exercise in your day.

Also, I feel strongly that solidly working all day everyday leading up to exams, only stopping to eat and use the bathroom, will do more harm than good. It can make you burn out and you will perform less well come exam time. So I recommend scheduling some down time into that revision timetable you don’t stick to and go see  a movie or something. Hey, maybe I can watch the hobbit this weekend!

Good luck with revision and have faith you won’t be trapped in a prison of revision notes forever.

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