Ready for a new year's worth of study?
For those of you living in the Southern Hemisphere, still enjoying Summer Vacation, there are a few things you should be thinking about in the lead-up to semester one.
If you didn't use your library and it's services a lot last year, you might want to look at booking into an orientation session, or one of their various study courses. It doesn't matter if you are in First Year or Fourth Year, you can still attend these sessions and find out what the library has to offer. Trust me, it will make your life easier.
If you haven't already, you should start thinking about what subjects you intend to take this year. While you're at it, take a look at some of the subjects you could be taking next year. Why? Because there might be a couple you would really like to take, but they have prerequisite subjects. If there is a subject on your wish-list for next with prerequisites, you should enrol in those prerequisites for this year. You may find that you have to contact an academic advisor before you complete enrolment for this year. It's better to find out now than some-time during O-Week.
If you are returning to studies, you should take an audit of your study patterns from last year. What worked well for you, what didn't work at all? What did you mean to do (and would probably have performed better had you actually done it), but didn't do? Why didn't you do it, and what can you do to make sure you do it this year? For example, did you have grand plans for having all of your research done a week before the assignment was due, but found yourself still looking for quotes the morning of the due date? What happened? What can you do to improve that situation?
If this is your first year in a university or college, one of the best things you can do is find out about what mentor programmes are available. Mentors are usually students in their second or third year of studies who have already learnt most of the ropes, and are happy to help you know what to expect. Because they are students, not teaching staff, they know what it's like to be a student dealing with the system. Very useful.
Take an afternoon to sort out your files on your computer. It's always a great idea to have different folders for different semesters, and have everything from last-year put somewhere out of the way (but easy to find) before you start the next year. If you had a lot of PDFs and readings saved to your computer from last year, but you don't need them any more, this is a great time to free up some space. However, before you get rid of them, you should make some notes about them in a bibliographic softward program like Endnote or BiblioExpress (Endnote costs serious money, but you can probably get it for free through your university; BiblioExpress is freeware, and quite good, if not up to the same standard as Endnote). That way, if it turns out that you need to find that information again later, you have a fighting chance of remembering where it came from and tracking it down.
Take up a new sport. Walking, running, swimming, Ultimate Frisbee, OzTag... whatever you think you might be able to keep up on a weekly basis. If you're already involved in a sporting team or activity, that's fantastic, but if not you should really look at what sports are available in your university community (or just your community). Nothing helps you studies as much as improving your general over-all fitness, plus it will give you an outlet for any stress you might build up as a result of your studies. It's a great idea to take up this sport now, rather than after you start lectures, as it means you'll be able to consider it as a normal part of your week by the time you have to start scheduling your tutorials. Otherwise, there's a good chance you'll never quite get around to it.
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