{"id":143,"date":"2017-06-02T13:07:26","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T13:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/?p=143"},"modified":"2017-06-19T13:58:57","modified_gmt":"2017-06-19T13:58:57","slug":"finding-your-formula","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/2017\/06\/02\/finding-your-formula\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding your formula"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"by Nevena (Student Blogger: BSc Hons Business Studies (Industry))<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst year doesn\u2019t count!\u201d \u201cAren\u2019t you going out today?\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t bother going to a 9 am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do these phrases ring a bell when you think of your first year in university? I bet this is the case.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s face it, all of us (or nearly all) underestimate the importance and seriousness of our first year. We go out every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, can\u2019t skip \u2018Sugar,\u2019 right? We are excited by the sudden and yet powerful feeling of freedom we are experiencing. Feeling of freedom which gives us momentum to keep socialising with others and practically do whatever we decide without having our\u00a0parents tell us what we can and can\u2019t do, what we should and shouldn\u2019t do. We skip a lecture from time to time, (we don\u2019t really manage to catch up\u2026just because we were too busy with other things), we go to all the societies we signed up for (after reducing the list of 10 during freshers\u2019 week to 3 at the most for the period after), we search for events or just chill with our flatmates all day long.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, the end of first term comes and everyone starts panicking about submitting their first assignments. However, this is not the only problem\u2026 the most worrying issue is that you don\u2019t really know how to do it and how it will be marked. \u201cThere\u2019s still time,\u201d you tell yourself; \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t take me that long,\u201d \u2013 your inner voice keeps whispering. There are still a few days left and you realise that leaving an essay for the very last minute wasn\u2019t really the smartest decision and you try to mobilise yourself and still finish it on time. You press the button \u201cSubmit assignment,\u201d it is 23:59, you realise you have a minute left (but let\u2019s think of it as 60 seconds because it looks more), your heartbeat fastens\u2026 and you see the window on your screen \u201cSuccessful submission\u201d; and BOOM \u2013 everything is finished (you were lucky this time)! You go home for a whole month around Christmas, enjoy your time with friends and family and come fresh for the second portion of uni \u2013 the Lent term. But trust me, it is not until\u00a0the summer term\u00a0when you start feeling concerned about the 5 exams (at least) that are on your exam timetable. The material is so much that you spend a whole week trying to get back in the studying routine after the second looooong break, and then suddenly you have a few weeks left to the Great Battle\u2026 Panic. Panic. Panic!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wait! Stop for a minute. Breathe in. Breathe out. And don\u2019t let yourself press the panic button. You are capable of getting the grades you want (and need) at those exams. Gather yourself, talk to second year students from your course, ask them for advice, make a revision plan and start. Focus and find what studying strategy works best for you. Trust in yourself and work hard for your goal. The results will come soon if you give all you can from yourself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now, I\u2019ll ask you to do something. Close your eyes and try to visualise the challenging situation as an equation with several unknowns. Remind yourself that you have taken some basic Math lessons in your past and know how to find the result of 2+2. I bet you can calculate an even more complicated problem as 2×22. It\u2019s the same here. Start with small steps. Go through the addition process: revise lecture notes as well as your notes and try to synthesize them in points you can easily remember. Link topics, use arrows, draw mind maps and you will save some extra work.\u00a0Divide large topics in smaller chunks of nuclei and find associations or real-life examples, so you can relate to theories more easily. Finally, change the way in which you revise \u2013 don\u2019t let revision become stagnant. Study on your own, practice past papers with friends, discuss potential exam questions, criticize objectively the theories and concepts. Then, when you sit on the chair behind the desk on your exam date be focused, stay on topic, and think positively. By that time, you will have found out the unknowns of the equation, and your X, Y, and Z will give you the result that you want.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We all make mistakes. However, it is important to acknowledge them and learn from them. Look at what you experienced throughout the year and how you approached what happened to you. Draw the conclusions from that and incorporate the lessons next year. You have the ability to find the right formula for yourself. There\u2019s little time left and you can do it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Nevena (Student Blogger: BSc Hons Business Studies (Industry)) \u201cFirst year doesn\u2019t count!\u201d \u201cAren\u2019t you going out today?\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t bother going to a 9 am.\u201d Do these phrases ring a bell when you think of your first year in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":668,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[14,10,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams","category-independent-learning","category-study-practices"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9xGnL-2j","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":168,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/studyblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}