Freshers

Are you keeping your private life private and under control?

When I was studying, the big thing about the Internet was Napster and downloading pretty much whatever music you wanted for free, albeit very illegally. It didn’t stop half the computer centre at any given moment from being awash with peer-to-peer file sharers.A few years later and now half the computer centre is in the middle of some form of social networking (Facebook, MySpace, et al.). While the music downloading was a legally questionable activity, the social networking is absolutely above board…but you should still question it. Check out my ‘4 Rs’…

THE 4 Rs

R you spending too much time updating your profile and sending messages?
R your privacy settings not switched to the max?
R you no longer in control of your own life?
R you aware of the trouble you can inadvertently get into if you’re not careful?

Getting Results…

TIME ONLINE

Planning your real life online can lead to the danger of spending too much time in the social networking world. In no time, your real life IS the online community.

When time begins to slip away and you’re getting very little done, it’s time to face up to facts and limit your time. Sometimes it’s quicker to go down the old-fashioned route of phone calls and (shock, horror!) face-to-face conversations.

Over time, I’ve learned that people take the plans a lot more seriously when dealt with over the phone and in person. There’s something about the casual internet invite that feels somewhat throwaway. The organiser might not feel that way, but the recipients might…

KEEPING IT PRIVATE (ISH)

If your profile is available for the world to see, anyone in the world could be reading up on your life and plans. I’m convinced many users don’t realise that anyone can see their information. Or maybe they’re real exhibitionists!

Check the privacy settings and get them right. It’s fifteen minutes of time well spent. And at least you’ll know exactly what’s going on with your data and who can see what.

CONTROLLING YOUR LIFE

When friends, family and, let’s face it, even casual acquaintances can see what you’re up to, when you’re around, who you spend most time with, what makes you tick, etc., are you really able to say you are the master of your own life decisions?

While you’re unlikely to be sharing your scariest and most intimate thoughts over the social-networking sites, you’re probably still sharing a lot more information than you realised. For example, I see some pretty personal conversations between various friends of mine on their own Facebook Wall posts. It’s as if they don’t realise ALL their friends can see what’s being talked about.

That’s why I don’t use my Wall. If people want to talk, I’ll do it through private messages.

On a different note, one friend of mine had a totally public page that explained what road she lived down, in which town, and proceeded to tell the world the dates of her holiday. Naughty, naughty!

STAYING OUT OF TROUBLE

“I’ve been so ill, so I need an extention for my essay. Oh yeah, and I’m afraid I can’t attend the compulsory seminar tomorrow, because I have a funeral to go to.”

With the power of the net, you don’t want to say this unless you’re telling the absolute truth.

If it’s a lie and you went out drinking and partying, others can find this out. And if instead of a funeral, you’re having a day out with friends, it’s quite possible for photos to appear online. A tutor might only need to spend a minute or two online to find out the reality.

In fact, tutors are more frequently becoming online friends with their students, so there’s even less room to hide.

Don’t feel invincible just because your privacy settings are switched on and you don’t speak to your tutor outside the lecture theatre. If any of your friends decide to post incriminating photos of you on their page, you’ve got just as much chance of finding yourself in deep doo-doo.

Everything I Learned so far Applied to Everything

ABC Teddy (photo by weirdvis)

It’s my belief that, deep down, we work on a relatively basic level. That’s not a bad thing and my statement alone is not enough (i.e. it’s too basic and is subject to many interpretations), but I think we can take a great deal from seemingly unrelated topics and use them to our advantage elsewhere.

Not only that, but I think we do it all the time. Almost without noticing.

I’ll explain. From an early age, I read up on many different topics. And each topic I would study in newspapers, magazines, books, and beyond. It needn’t be factual. I read a lot of fiction too.

With all this reading, I picked up on an important thing. The ideas and opinions being thrown around could just as easily be thrown elsewhere. In a completely different topic altogether, in fact.

The best recent example is in blogging. Many posts can work in situations that are quite alien to the subject being spoken about.

For instance, I read a guest post on the popular ‘make money blogging’ website, John Chow dot Com. It was a guest post by Gary Jones entitled “Everything I Learned in Kindergarten Applies to Blogging“.

Gary uses various common points, regular happenings and clichés surrounding kindergarten to explain aspects of the blogging world. Things like ‘Share everything’, ‘Say sorry when you hurt somebody’ and ‘Take a nap every afternoon’. Then he’s crafted them in a completely different way.

It works very well. It helps the reader to understand. It builds upon our associations and links them in a new manner.So as an experiment, I’ve decided to take blog posts and news that don’t specifically feature academia and see if I can turn them into something relevant to TheUniversityBlog and Higher Education.

And why not start with the post I mention above? Thus, in TheUniversityBlog style, I present to you:

EVERYTHING I LEARNED IN NURSERY APPLIES TO UNIVERSITY

– Share Everything
Your degree is not a competition. Sometimes it pays to work with others. While many smart students don’t study in groups, that doesn’t mean they isolate themselves from everything without engaging in debate and sharing ideas. Far from it.

Your confidence in your own thoughts and findings can be let out. If you don’t share the goods and prefer to hoard them, who knows what other treats you might be getting if you were to share and swap?

– Play Fair
Plagiarism is still an issue up and down the country. I don’t understand why, because you get caught. You’re not going to be lucky and beat the system.

It’s still going to happen, no matter what I – or anyone else – says. Whether it’s a sheer act of desperation, or a genuine belief that you can plagiarise without being spotted, there are still people who decide to do it.

Anything is better than that. Cheating is pointless and upsetting for other people and it always ends up biting you on the bum too! Steer clear.

– Don’t Hit People
When thousands of Freshers descend upon the campus, it’s inevitable that all the excitement can lead to frayed tempers. Shouting matches are bad enough (and there are plenty of those at the end of the night when the union shuts), but it’s even worse to participate in a violent brawl.

Don’t Hit People = Stay Calm & Compromise

– Clean Up Your Own Mess
Yes, it probably is your first time away from the family home. No, there isn’t anyone around to sort your life out in the same way now.

It doesn’t matter how independent you think you’ve been in the past. Uni is usually the first REAL time doing your own thing.

If you’re not doing it already, it’s a time to keep everything in order, do your fair share of housework (even if it’s just tidying your own space and washing your own dishes), and managing your time reasonably so you can work, socialise, eat, and sleep!

– Don’t Take Things That Aren’t Yours
So the cliché of taking ‘For Sale’ signs and traffic cones after a few drinks is still apparent. Naughty, naughty!

– Say You’re Sorry When You Hurt Somebody
If you do end up in a difficult situation through those frayed tempers, be prepared to get it sorted. An apology is not difficult, but a stubborn attitude causes the belief that it is. Get off your high horse and SAY SORRY. And mean it!

– Take A Nap Every Afternoon
With so much going on, it’s not unreasonable to give yourself a break. Invest in a power nap so you can carry on and make the most of the nights out too!

Mistakes in Study – Why ‘Best Intentions’ Aren’t Always Enough

[Martin’s note: I’m taking emergency posting measures while I’m ill. This is not a finished post, neither is it polished and properly checked. So please forgive any mistakes, shortcomings, and rambling points. You never know…one day I might even tidy this article up…maybe…]

Oups! (photo by scol22)

I’ve always believed that – since we’re so different – we all have different ways of working effectively.

Personally, I worked throughout the year, not just when an essay was due or an exam immenent. I felt it much easier to focus on the study when it was fresh in my mind. With each lecture and seminar, I made the most of the information presented and built my knowledge and ideas up as I moved along.

But that’s just my method. We’re not all the same and some of you may prefer to cram all the information together in one big bundle, just before it’s needed.

I say this because potential problems lie with the belief that there is only one way of working.

It’s not uncommon to hear complaints like, “No matter how hard I try, I still can’t get to grips with my work” and “I can’t understand why my brain won’t take anything in when I want it to”.

It’s true…if a system of working doesn’t gel for you, it won’t make a difference how hard you try.

Let’s look at some of the mistakes that people can make when studying for their degree:

Upping the time spent studying, but consequently wasting it

There is a false belief amongst many that the more time you spend on your study, the better you’re going to deal with it. But this just isn’t the case. With a particular system in place, it’s perfectly possible, but spending more time on study will not work in isolation. Much better to enhance the WAY in which you work, rather than the amount of time spent working.

Having a lack of focus, even when your intentions are good

If you’re not sure what you’re meant to be studying, how on earth can you push forward with revision and writing? If you’ve set aside quality time, but don’t know where to begin, chances are you’ll end up achieving very little. It’s a recipe for panic and stress.

Step back a bit and try to get a view of the bigger picture. It’s wise to do some general background reading first (from your own books, from the library, on Wikipedia, and any other general info websites out there). It’s no use throwing yourself in the deep end if you don’t know how to swim. So work the basics and overall points first.

Spending too much time planning and not enough time doing

Maybe you like to build an elaborate sketch of what you need to work on, which times you’re going to work on it, where the information is available, and so on. Maybe you also like to write your notes up several times, convinced they will be perfect the next time. When I was at uni, I knew one person who would write up their notes in neater handwriting, as if the better handwriting would improve their memory capacity.

There’s certainly something to be said about re-writing your notes to imprint them on your brain (it does work for some people), but it’s never worth making your notes neat just for the sake of it.

My point is, your planning could be down to a complex method of procrastination. Anything but the actual revision itself. But you feel better if it’s RELATED to your revision. Sadly, it’s no excuse, so if you recognise yourself in this example, it’s time to have words with yourself and knuckling down!

Letting peer pressure get in the way of your study time

I’m sure most of us have been here before. Your good intentions are blasted out of the water because your mates are pleading with you to spend a day out with them.

Friends are often like this without realising. The only thing you can do about it is to say ‘no’. If you’ve got a clear study time that needs adhering to, there’s nothing to do except tell your mates that you definitely can’t do anything at the moment. They might try and persuade you every which way, but rather than give excuses or ‘um and ah’ about it, just stay strong and say that you must stick with the study and there’s nothing you can do about it. You owe it to yourself to do this. Hang on in there.

Allowing your stubborn want for more leisure time to get in the way

You can’t just blame peer pressure on study problems. As I’ve said above, the final say rests with you and you owe it to yourself not to stray from the goals you’ve set. You set them for a reason, so turning your back on them isn’t wise.

Not working in the way your brain can handle it best

Just because you’ve heard from a few people that cramming is getting them through exams, that doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.

It’s just the same with the advice I give on this site. You’re not going to agree with all of it, so you have to find your own way to success. The hints and tips you get from books, this website, your friends, or wherever, are for you to take in and then find what’s best for you.

Maybe you’ll take to cramming naturally. But who’s to say you’d get on much better with regular blocks of work instead? Get experimenting!

Misunderstanding what’s most important

Don’t be too lax when it comes to your study. There could be several modules that you need to set time aside for and they may all seem of equal importance. But some modules may not be worth as many marks and other tests may not have any bearing on your final grades whatsoever.

For this reason, it’s important to make value judgements and be clear about what’s most important in the whole scheme of things. For example, just because one tutor has set a test worth nothing (except experience) on the same day as you have an exam worth a third of your marks, it’s a bad decision to work just as hard on the impromtu test just because, let’s say, your tutor will have a go at you if you do badly.

At the same time, you’ll hopefully be managing your time a bit better so you can work on both without an issue… 😉

My old favourite…BALANCE (not enough leisure time is just as bad as not enough study time)

I’m sure you’re aware of the saying, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”. Well, it’s true even if your name isn’t Jack.

Imagine going through the first couple of months at uni in a daze of fun, partying, socialising at clubs and societies and, of course, getting a bit of work in when you can. Now imagine sitting down for a couple of weeks after all this, doing nothing but revision and writing essays that are due in.

Your mind and body are not going to thank you for shaking everything up so dramatically.

So even if you’ve totally ignored work for the majority of the semester, your intense study time still needs to be broken down with regular break periods and relaxing activities.

Balance (photo by darktaco)

—–

Before you excel in anything, you have to have a grasp of how to do it and what works best for you. It’s also important to have faith in yourself and the drive to do it. Without the faith, you’re in danger of wrongly giving it up as a bad job. Without the drive, you’re in danger of procrastinating and allowing your mind to wander.

So even if you have the best intentions to get that work done, don’t forget to push down any other barriers in your way too. And give yourself a pat on the back when you’re done. Alternatively, just go down the bar with your mates to celebrate!

UniversityBlog – Best of October Posts

It’s a new month and it’s time to recap some of the big posts and popular articles. Time seems to have passed by so quickly! Well, here are the top 5 highlights:

1. Getting the initial work out of the way, every time – Getting a project off the ground may well be all it takes to succeed in a big way. I wrote the piece because this way of working has been beneficial to me for many years. It’s one well worth remembering.

2. Finding Your Personal Lifeskills (Or…”With Others You Can Do-It-Yourself!”) – No matter how much advice is thrown at you, it can only work if you make positive use of it and form it for your own wants and needs. Expecting something to happen without any of your own input is unrealistic. This article explains how you can reach a mindset that will allow you to make the most of the advice that comes your way.

3. Redefining Your Comfort Zone: 5 ways to make information your friend – Information has many forms and we take some in our stride, while other forms of information leave us cold. By redefining your comfort zone, it’s possible to consume a lot more information that you realise. Go to it!

4. Help for the Hopelessly Homesick – It’s still pretty early in the academic year, especially for Freshers. There may still be some mixed feelings about moving away from home. I wrote this after hearing from a number of homesick students and reading various stories on the fantastic site The Student Room. I think it’s been the most popular post since UniversityBlog began. There’s no harm in that and I hope it’s been of great use to you.

5. Turning Smalltalk into Bigtalk: 7 ways to find things to talk about – Sometimes it’s difficult to get a conversation going. I’ve been there before. You don’t know about a person, so you’re unsure how to find the words to say. Or you’re with a group of people you’ve never met and want to hit it off with them, but can’t imagine what witty words will impress them. The 7 tips I mention in this post have helped me to get a conversation up and running on many occasions.