It has been 5 long weeks of one of the biggest changes in my life. Learning to manage a workload I never experienced at high school as well as being completely immersed in adult life. I am currently sitting in a bus, going home for the mid-semester break. I am writing this in the bus because I have been completed swamped with work and found no time to write this blog so, I see now as a prime opportunity.
When you get to uni be prepared for week 5 to be quite hectic. They do warn you about it during o-week with an accurate representation of uni shown through a roller coaster. You go through a peak during the first few weeks because of all the fun and then suddenly week 5 is there and you’re at the bottom again due to all the work piling up. They couldn’t have summed it up any better.
If I can tell you one tip about uni from my short time here, it is planning. I found this to be the reason why I survived this half of semester one. Uni is not like Highschool where they give you plans for what weeks you should have certain things done by and consistently remind in class in the prior weeks that it is due. At uni, they give you a due date and that is it. No reminders, No progress checks. They don’t talk a lot about tests or assignments in your lectures. Just a due date and no clue what you are actually doing. So, you must plan to stay on top of the workload.
Some tips on how to stay on top of the workload.
- Wall Planner.
You will most likely receive one of these when signing up for AUSA (Auckland Uni Student Association). Use this to write due dates, test dates and any other important date you need to remember. I also wrote the date that I was going home so I look forward to the holidays.
- Whiteboard
I use my whiteboard to write down a list of things I need to complete in the day to ensure I stay on track with everything. I use different colour pens to show what is most important. You can purchase one from Kmart or the warehouse for a pretty good price.
- Check uni services regularly e.g. canvas and emails
Canvas is an online portal that has up to date information on each of your courses, including test dates, assignments due dates and updates from your lecturers. You will also receive a lot of emails, it pays to check them as sometimes they can be quite important and if you don’t read it you can miss out on important things.
- Doing things in advance
When you think you have no work during weeks 1-4 just find something in advance to do so you don’t become stressed over the tests, peer reviews and essays to hit you all at once. Trust me, I could have completed an essay I had a few weeks before the due date. Instead, I left it until only 3 days before the due date to start. Don’t make the same mistake I did.
All I can say is the first few weeks of uni will be a new experience you will have to get used to. But with every new experience comes something great at the end. So stick through it till the end and you will definitely be rewarded for it.
Until next time