How to make the most of student life by Dr. Sudhir Giri (Shri Venkateshwara University)
Student life is hard to define. Is it lazing around on campus
lawns with friends? Is it reading the student newspaper in the campus coffee
shop? Or is it mainly late nights in the library finishing your assignments? The
truth is that student life is different for everyone. You will only get a sense
of what it truly means to you once you're amongst it. In this section we expose
some of the myths about student life to ensure you don't enter your studies
with too many grand illusions. We also give you some tips on making the most of
your precious time as a student.
In this section we cover:
The truth
about student life
It's
likely that you've heard some of the student myths floating around, so how much
attention should you pay to them — if at all? To give you a bit of a head start
on what being a student might be like, or might not be, we've listed and
debunked some of the most common uni student myths below.
Ps get
degrees
While "just passing" every class will earn you a
qualification, many students use this as an excuse to do the bare minimum.
Without a doubt, the satisfaction of earning a top mark is well worth the hard
work. Keeping a high average certainly comes in handy if you intend to do
further study, and high-achieving students may even be eligible to access
scholarships and additional study opportunities such as exchange programs.
While individual subject marks don't count for a lot once you graduate, think
about how much better you will look in a job interview if you can demonstrate
that you put in the hard work, rather than just scraping by.
Students are
all poor
Just because you're a student doesn't mean you have to live in a
run-down share house with seven hippies eating mi goreng packet noodles for
every meal. Although money can be tight when you're studying full time, many
students actually manage to live quite comfortably (keeping their dignity well
intact) through a mix of part-time work, careful budgeting and (if they're
lucky) government assistance. See Student income for
some budget-friendly tips. You might even be surprised at how fun it can be
living on a budget. Just embrace the time that you're at uni and think about
your potential earnings once you come out the other end with your degree.
It's okay to
start an assignment the night before it's due
While many students claim to do this (some even managing to
miraculously end up with a decent mark), starting an assignment the night
before it's due is never a good idea. You should aim to start a standard (say,
2500-word) assignment at least two to three weeks before it's due. Allocating
one week for research, one week to write it and a couple of spare days to
review and edit is a good formula to stick by. At times where you know there
will be a pile-up of assignments (like the end of semester), try to get an
earlier start. Leaving an assignment until the last minute is a recipe for
disaster because more often than not you won't realise how much work there is
to do until you begin. If you don't get it done in time, you will lose marks
for late submission; if you do get it finished, there will always be the
niggling feeling of how much better you could have done.
Tertiary
study is all theory and no practice
Many denounce study as a waste of time that leaves students with
little to no experience of real life. But the reality is that most institutions
these days strive to give their students an experience that will prepare them
for the real world. Many courses incorporate internships, study tours, visits
from guest lecturers working in the field and industry projects for real
organisations. These opportunities will give you a real advantage when it comes
time to find a job.
First
classes are always useless
Many students skip the first couple of classes because they
assume that no assessable content will be covered or that there are better
things they could be doing (like catching up on sleep). Missing the first class
often means missing out on vital background information, details about your
assignments and valuable opportunities to make friends with fellow classmates.
There are a number of reasons why you should be in the habit of going to every
class — not least of all because you are paying big bucks for the course, so
you may as well enjoy it. In some cases, attendance may actually form part of your
mark, so you might want to save skipping classes for when a real emergency
occurs (no-one wants to be the boy who cried wolf).
Getting the most out of your student years
If you think that being a student is all about hitting the
books, take comfort in knowing that this is far from the truth! While there
will definitely be times when you need to wave goodbye to your social life,
your student experience is much more than essays and exams. And although it
won't always seem like it, your days as a student will go very quickly' even
too quickly, some might say. So how do you make sure you get the most out of
your studies before you graduate?
Set yourself some goals
While this
probably isn't the most fun you'll have as a student, what better way to get
motivated before classes start than by making a few (realistic) goals? It might
be as simple as vowing to improve on your results from the previous semester or
to try every eatery on campus with your friends. If you don't have specific
goals in mind, start with the basics. Being on time to class and taking note of
exam and assignment due dates are both great examples.
Avoid doing the bare minimum
Being a
student isn't just about showing up to compulsory classes or making an
appearance in tutorials every couple of weeks. Try to attend all your classes
(no matter how early in the morning they are scheduled), keep up with the
workload (including course readings before each class) and don???t leave
assignments or exam study until the very last day. If you need to miss a class
or don't think you can meet an assessment deadline, it's best to have chat to
your lecturer or tutor so that they can provide assistance, but remember to do
this ahead of time, not within hours of a due date or compulsory class.
Choose subjects that interest you
The beauty
of post-school education is that you choose what you study and have a say in
the types of subjects you take (depending on your course structure, of course).
The best tip is to choose subjects that interest you and to avoid making your
choices based on your other circumstances (your desire for a bludge subject or
a Monday morning sleep-in, for instance). Look for subjects that challenge you
or allow you to further develop an area of interest, and don't be afraid to
explore those outside of your immediate faculty. Why not take on a philosophy
elective as part of a science course, a music class to break up your law degree
or add a language elective to a business degree?
Get involved on campus
Graduating
students often regret not getting involved on campus. While this doesn't mean
you have to set up your own club or chair a society, you might want to consider
submitting an article to the university magazine, volunteering to show new
students around campus during O-Week, signing up to help organise the faculty
ball (or at least buying a ticket) or perhaps joining a student society or
sports team. There's more to student life than sitting in lectures, so look for
opportunities to get involved from day one.
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