A new chapter: Lectures and exams

Hi again! This is my second of a series of posts I am going to be making about university life and I thought It would be a good idea to share some tips on lectures and exams, as after all you are at university to study! 

As a fresher I was oblivious to what lectures, tutorials and seminars were, and what I could expect from the academic staff within my department. Of course each of these may differ from university to university, but on a broad scale they should all be fairly similar. 

Each course is made up of 120 credits, in which each module can be 10, 20, 30 or 40 credits (mainly 10 or 20 in first year). Depending on your course you may have all 120 credits taken up by compulsory modules. However, many courses allow you to chose some optional modules. These may be directly related to your course, or you could even chose a random module within another department such as a language. This is a great way to broaden your knowledge and meet lots of new people. Although, as I learnt choosing an Agriculture module in which I knew nothing about the topic was interesting but also very challenging when it came to examination. But I suppose its good to be challenged and learn about new things ay!

Most courses will run mainly by lectures, which can range from 25 people to maybe 400 people depending on your course/topic area. Dependent on size they can take place in large lecture halls, to small classroom like rooms, which make you feel a little more like your back at school. Especially throughout first year you can expect to share lectures with many courses under your department, which means that they are generally taught to a broader topic rather than just your subject area. As a Food Marketing and Business Economics student I shared lectures with Consumer Behaviour and Marketing, Food Science & nutrition, Agricultural business management, Psychology, Animal Science and International Development students. This provides some great benefits not only because you get to mix with more than just your course, but you get to learn about other areas that you may have never even thought about. 

Some modules may also involve tutorials or seminars which are generally made up of a smaller group of people, and involve a more practical element. This could be practice questions/problems, advice services or group discussions/debates. 

Personally I haven't had much experience of the latter due to the nature of my course however, I expect I will have more of these as I progress through my degree. 

Tutorials and seminars are a great way to get to know people on your course, or similar courses, due to the smaller number of people. Lets face it your not going to know everyone in your 200 capacity lecture!

Although you are part of a specific department this may not mean that your lectures, tutorials or seminars will always be within this building. Most of the time I found I was in every other building apart from my departments, it just depends on timetabling and lecture sizes. 

Of course within education you are always going to be tested to see how well you understand the content of your lectures, which could take the form of assignments, class tests, presentations, spot tests, end of year exams or simulation exercises. This totally depends on the lecturer and what they think is the best way to test your knowledge. Don't be fooled by thinking Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) tests are easier though, many of my friends and I learnt this the hard way, as they can defiantly be much harder than first thought.

The biggest difference I found when starting university is having to do everything on my own. You defiantly get thrown in the deep end. Obviously you have personal tutors, and academic advisers to help you when your stuck, but you are expected to just get on with it really. I found it quite hard at the beginning to get a hang of the level of writing that was expected and the idea of coming up with  my own essay/research titles. In addition, to these the mass of research that goes into every assignment shocked me, and really taught me a lesson in how to skim read instead of reading every little detail. 

I also learnt that you do not have to do absolutely everything on the reading lists you are given. I tried this out in the first few weeks and oh my was it exhausting! You have to remember that not everything is relevant, and you need to pick and chose what to read depending on what you are interested in. After all writing about something your not interested in within assignments may not come across well. 
Referencing is another area in which I hadn't had much practice in before going to university, and I don' think anyone ever truly learns how to to it properly! My personal tutor recommended an internet browser software called Mendeley which is defiantly worth the download. It saves so much time and ensures that you format your references properly. 

Within my last term I definitely learnt that the library is an amazing place to go study...better late than never! 

Personally, I found that I got so much more work done there than within my halls where there were constant distractions. However, choose the people you go with wisely, some may be more focused than others. 

I hope this advice was of some help, and explains a few things about university that may be quite new to many school students. Thanks for reading!  

Exam Season

It's that time of year again, the dreaded exam season where students across the country begin to feel the pressure of the education system. This year it's slightly different for me as I am taking my first university exams, which is a little scary as they're so different from what I am used to at school. Being someone who gets extremely stressed over exams and revision I have found it quite hard to keep focused on my work and getting used to the style of exams to expect at university. However, after a long stressful chat to my parents I have realised that you can only do your best! I mean I can't be that awful at exams otherwise I wouldn't have gotten this far. 

I thought I'd share with you some of my exam preparation tips that I have used over the years to get me through this dreaded season! 

Firstly, the main thing that helps me at this time of year is to have something to look forward to. Be it a summer holiday after exams, or a revision break at the weekend doing something fun. Having an end goal after all the hard work really does motivate you and keep you focused on what is to come, which of course is extremely important when it comes to exams. 

It's also important to remember to actually get out of your study space and get a change of scenery. I defiantly know how easy it is to not leave the house for days on end during this time because there aren't enough hours in the day to do all the work. However, in most cases this really doesn't help your productivity. Even if its just a short walk to the shops, just getting outside and having some fresh air can really help. 

Always remember to drink plenty of water during exam season, not only to keep hydrated but to also improve brain function. In addition to this try and keep your revision snacks healthy, such as fruit because it is far too easy to get through a lot of junk food when your bored revising, which of course isn't too good for many reasons! Of course it's all about balance though so having a treat after you've finished your revision for the day might be a good thing.  

From the start of my GCSE exams in 2011 I have always used mind maps as a revision tool, which have been very effective for me having something stuck up on my bedroom wall to look at. Making these also makes revision slightly less boring as you can get creative and use different colours or drawings to help remember key facts. As well as this I always think it is a good idea to look at past papers and practice questions or topics that could come up with your notes. This way if a similar question comes up in the exam you will have already prepared an answer previously that you can try and remember the key points from. 

Finally, I think it is always helpful to make yourself a revision timetable so that you know what you are doing each day. Revision can sometimes feel never ending so having a set plan for the day can make the process a little less painful, and then at least you know you will have covered everything before the exam. 

I hope these tips are helpful and that your exams go well! 

Thanks for reading. 

Exam Results!

On the 13th of August I received my A-Level exam results, and to say the least I was more nervous than ever as these grades decided whether I would get into my chosen university. The excitement of finding out I had got into The University of Reading to do Food Marketing and Business Economics before I had received my results was great and made opening that horrible envelope a little less painful.....I'm not going to lie I did cry a little when I found out I got in! 

I'm not going to post what results I got on here as I feel like that's a little inappropriate or boastful and at the end of the day all that matters is that I'm happy with them & I know that I tried my hardest. Getting the results you want, although not the biggest thing in the world, is such a great feeling and it shows that all your endless hard work has finally paid off. 

It made me so happy to see that most of my friends were so pleased with their results and all of them achieved what they needed to take the next step in their lives, whether that be going to university, taking a gap year, getting a job or an apprenticeship. 

If you received your exam results this year whether their GCSE's, AS Levels or A-Levels I hope you received the results you hoped for, If not its not the end of the world! Letters on a piece of paper do not define who you are or what you are capable of. 

I am so excited to be starting University in mid September and hope that these four years will be as good as my school years. 

Thanks for reading! 

Revision playlist

As half term is upon us, and although there's a lot of relaxing to be done there's also revision and homework to also be done. I thought I'd share a few tracks that are on my playlist, that I've been loving at the moment to get me through the boring revision.

Howl at the moon- The Script 

(There is not an official video yet so here is a lyric video)

Shake it off- Taylor Swift

Youth- Foxes

Gold Rush- Ed Sheeran 

(Again, there isn't an official video so here is a lyric video) 

Waste of time- MØ

I want you- Saint Raymond

I hope you enjoy these few songs that I am enjoying at the moment :P 

Exams!

I am currently studying for my AS level exams in Food Technology, Psychology, English Literature and ICT. As exams are getting closer and closer I though I share some of my ways to deal with stress and how to handle revision.

I've found this year I've become more and more stressed with the workload than ever before. This is most likely because of the huge leap between GCSE and A-levels. The year has gone so fast and I haven't really had much time breathe and take  a step back.

Here are ten ways I've found to deal with stress and revision:
1. Make a revision timetable for each day
2. Take frequent short breaks
3. Revise in 20 minute blocks
4. Don't forget to go out into the 'real world' and have some fun
5. Make revision fun- create games for yourself, get others to test you or have a revision day with your friends.
6. Keep motivated and attention by having a glass of water while doing revision.
7. Eat healthily- try not to slip into bad eating habits during exam period as this can lower your performance.
8. Sleep well- Don't stay up all night revising.
9. Keep on exercising- This keeps you awake and can act as a stress release.
10. Plan something exciting with family or friends for after exams that you can look forward to. This could be going out for a meal, going to a festival, having a party, a movie night with friends or even a family meal.

I hope that these little tips help with whatever exams you are doing if they are end of unit/year tests, GCSE exams, ALevel exams or even degree exams. Good Luck! :)

GCSE results!

So as the big results day looms, many 16 year olds will spend tonight and tomorrow morning worrying about what they have achieved over these past two years...including me.

 I thought this day would never come considering the long summer but sadly it has. Although many adults will say that these do not matter the fear of not wanting these past two years as a complete waste of time kicks in. 

The walk to school with  my friends tomorrow will defiantly include a lot of talk about how badly some exams went, and also some moaning about how early 9am is considering, most teenagers are used to getting up slightly later than usual. 

I'm sure most results many people will be happy with but there will be a few disappointing grades that we will have to put up with, and there is bound to always be one grade that is one mark away from the next grade. Which we all know is the most annoying feeling! 

Then when the huge anticlimax kicks in we will all be thinking the next two results days are going to be even more nerve racking! 

For those of you who are receiving results tomorrow GOOD LUCK!