September 27, 2016, by Emer

How To Make The Most Of The Start Of Term

Sssh, can you hear that? It’s me SCREAMING about how excited I am for the start of term. Crisp autumn leaves and new notebooks, buying piles of books that I will almost certainly never read, reuniting with friends, and signing up for approximately five million new societies – all  of these fill me with unutterable joy. Of course this joy will seem ridiculous in two weeks when I’m conjugating German verbs at 5pm on a Friday, but for now I’m excited! With that in mind, I’ve compiled a few ideas about how to get the most out of the new academic year.

1. Take Advantage of September Motivation

The beginning of Autumn Term is a magical time, matched only by New Year in its motivational capabilities. Harness this motivation before it fades under the inevitable drudgery of Actual Work and write a list of goals.

Try to make a commitment so you actually have to follow through. For example, one of my goals this year is to learn Spanish so I signed up for evening classes at the language centre. Another good thing is to sign up for something with a friend so you’re more likely to go.

2. Don’t Sweat The Freshers Stuff

Freshers Week can seem like the be-all and end-all of your university experience which puts a lot of pressure on incoming First years. Fortunately it’s not! During Freshers:

• The most important thing is not to stress too much (I know stress is pretty inevitable!)
• Honestly no one is going to care/remember if you don’t have the right fancy dress (you will not henceforth be known as ‘That Girl Who Wore Jeans To The Toga Night’)
• You really don’t have to drink if you don’t want to. Although alcohol is presented as an integral part of student life, it really isn’t. And if you’re not into clubbing there are plenty of alternative events you can attend that will be advertised during Welcome Week.

 

3. Get organised now!

Come December, when you’re frantically searching for your notes from some lecture in October you barely remember, you’re inevitably going to wish you’d been more organised earlier. However, you can lessen future crises by doing little things now. E.g.

• Work out a system of note-taking that works for you – whether that’s on a laptop, having a separate notebook for each module, colour-coding or something else.
• Check out the recommended reading list early on so when it’s the week before your essay is due you don’t realise that the only copy of the book you need has already been taken out of the library.

And so ends my advice – good luck with the new term and have fun!

 

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