Hello FedUni Friends, are you feeling it in the air?
Yep…I feel it too, SWOTVAC and exams are upon us!
You can almost smell the anticipation and stress as you walk around campus. Well, at any rate, you can smell it at my house.
Like most students, my housemates and I are gearing up for the exam period. After three years of uni you would think we’d have mastered this time of semester, but hey, we are only human.
So in light of the looming SWOTVAC week and exams, we have put together some tips that have helped us survive the past three years.
- Acknowledge that you may be stressed
- Find out or remember what helps you to relieve stress
- Focus on yourself
- Study
- Seek support for the amazing Uni facilities and services
Disclaimer: These are tips that have worked for me, they may not work for you or you may want to seek support from a professional. Check out http://federation.edu.au/current-students/assistance-support-and-services/student-support-services
Further Disclaimer: If you are not feeling stressed, please don’t feel that you are wrong. Everyone deals with their exams in different ways.
Even Further Disclaimer: This one is really just to test if you are still reading. Are you procrasti-reading?
KEEP READING!
Let’s break it down, Lilly style.
Survival Tip One: Acknowledge that you may be stressed!
This is one of the hardest parts but once you get it you can move forward. The best way to do this is to look at:
- How you are interacting with others,
- What you are eating
- If you are getting sleep
If you find these to be out of whack (not an official term), there is a possibility you are stressed, which leads to the next tip.
Survival Tip Two: Find out or remember what helps you to relieve stress
Now you have acknowledged your stresses, the best way to get work done is to remove them where possible.
Use any tools that you have used in the past to help you get through. Here are some stress relievers that you may not have tried:
- Write a check-list of what you need to do (spelling it out helps me all semester)
- Study for a period of time and reward yourself with a break
- Listen to music
- Keep a healthy lifestyle, including eating well and sleeping regularly
- Try drinking tea (the low caffeine reduces stress)
- Get outside; go for a walk or swim
- And if all else fails, take some deep breaths
But really, if all else fails, seek help! http://federation.edu.au/current-students#Support_and_services
Survival Tip Three: Focus on yourself (With a Balance)
Stress is about yourself. It comes from yourself and things that relate and affect to you.
This in an important tip because the only way you can get through this exam period successfully is to make time for yourself to prepare.
You no doubt have many important distractions such as your children/family, work, placements or other things. Somehow you need to make time for yourself to prepare.
In saying this you must remember that you need BALANCE! Continue to live your life: but make time to study!
Survival Tip Four: Study!
Okay, you have acknowledged that you are stressed, used methods to relieve it and have made time. Now what?
It’s time to knuckle down and STUDY!
I can almost see you rolling your eyes and sighing.
But do you really know how to study?
FedUni suggests:
Revise by using “active” learning techniques like SQ3R, which stands for…
- Survey: Scan through your notes and texts.
- Question: What is this topic about?
- Read: Try to answer your questions. Take notes.
- Recall: Answer the questions without your notes.
- Review: Re-read your notes whenever you can.
Or identify your weak areas early and get assistance if necessary. Understanding is the most vital aid to learning and remembering.
- Revise material in small chunks
- Recalling
- Teach it to someone
Survival Tip Five: Seek support from the amazing uni facilities and services!
If all is lost, use the university facilities that are available to you as a FedUni student!
Student Futures Office (PASS, ASK and YourTutor)
Pssst.….this may look like a lot of work but you are probably already doing most of this stuff!
And here is a song to get you in the study mood:
To the tune of Cheerleader by Omi
Remixed by Lilly
“When I need motivation
My one solution is to Study
‘Just to stay strong (Yeah yeah)
I’m always in my corner
Right there where my desk is
All distractions are tempting
But I really need to study
And they say
Do you need it?
Do you think it’s worth it?
Do you really feel like passing?
And I’m like Yer, I really want to…
Oh I think that I found myself an answer,
It is right and I am going to succeed!!”
-Lilly
You can find Student Futures on social media here