10 THINGS I HAVE LEARNT AT UNIVERSITY

Going to university was very exciting for me, especially as I was a year behind all my friends because I change my A-levels in my second year of college. I started uni in 2015 and am studying Criminology with Social Policy which is a rather difficult subject if I do say so myself. I found university very overwhelming during my first week there as I kept constantly getting lost and felt awkward trying to make plans with people who had already made loads of friends with their new flatmates as I had lived at home and commuted daily, unlike the majority of the students who lived on campus.

1. GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR LECTURERS/TUTORS IF YOU'RE STRUGGLING
This is probably a piece of advice that I wish I followed during my first year as I found it pretty difficult to adjust to my new life as a university student - the coursework was different and a lot more difficult than A-levels.

2. DO RESEARCH BEFORE WRITING ESSAYS
I feel like I should have stuck to my own 'words of wisdom' before preaching them, haha! Always do research on a topic you're thinking about before you start your essay as you might find it halfway through that you would have done better answering a different question.

3.  BE NICE TO EVERYONE YOU MEET
This is definitely something that everyone should follow. I like to think of myself as a genuinely nice person and I'd do anything to make a person feel comfortable and confident. However, I have come across some very vile people who turned out to be a very big waste of my time but I'll save that for another post.

4. APPLY FOR AN OVERDRAFT
I was one of the (un)lucky people who has had a weekend job, so I always had that extra £200 each month, however, a lot of my friends struggled financially. I don't actually have an overdraft as I do not need one, but I would suggest looking into it, especially if you struggle with saving some pennies. The best deals that I found were opening a student account with Santander as you get a free railcard for 4 years and the overdraft limit starts from £150!

5. ALWAYS BE YOURSELF
My biggest pet peeve is when people try to impress others by not being themselves. It's fake and unnecessary, so make sure you're always being yourself as people will appreciate genuineness at this stage of life.

6. TAKE PART IN SEMINAR DISCUSSIONS
I was really scared to speak up and share my opinions on certain subjects, but once my tutor had heard what I had to say he showed gratitude and respect for my answer and never failed to get me involved in future talks.

7. NO QUESTION IS STUPID
You might be wanting to ask a question about something which might seem banal to others or look silly, but the truth is - there's no such thing as a stupid question! So, ask away as it's always better to be sure about something rather than staying quiet and confused.

8. RECORD YOUR LECTURES AND SEMINARS
Recording lectures will be your new best friend, especially on those days when you feel like crap and need lots of caffeine or you spent your night partying away! I always record my lectures and write notes as I go along so then if I made a note which I cannot remember, I'd listen to the recording and remind myself of the topic. - This is also a great revision hack.

9. DON'T LEAVE WORK UNTIL LAST MINUTE
Anyone who had been to school would already know this golden rule. I can't stress enough how important it is to do your coursework and revision on time and never leave anything important til last minute! I did this a few times during my A-levels and it did not help me pass one bit if you know what I mean... :|

10. BE CAREFUL WHO YOU MOVE IN WITH
I'm not saying this to sound like a fussy cow, but you need to consider who you're going to live with especially if you'll be sharing a kitchen and/or bathroom. The people I had lived with were sooo messy and it put me off cooking my own food! I found myself constantly cleaning up after others solely for sanitary reasons.

Are you a student? If so, what do you study?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF REVISION

I, alike many others, have always struggled with revision. I didn't know how to use my time well and optimise revising to its full potential to gain as much information as possible. I have since found the perfect solution to my problem which is - organisation is key.

I really love notebooks. No, I really really do love them - I have a very big collection of them in a huge storage box under my bed. I don't know what it is, but I love buying stationary and using it up, I find it so satisfying! Are you like this at all?

My favourite way of revising is writing up notes in different colours. For example, if you need to learn about a theory then write it down in either black or blue, and then use red for the disadvantages and green for the advantages. I do this for the majority of my modules at uni, especially History of British Social Policy as it involves a lot of Prime Ministers and their accomplishments and failures.

Flashcards are always a good idea. Once you've finished writing up your notes, you should condense them into bullet points and write them on flash cards, so when you read that sentence you automatically remember everything you've learnt about it, and if you need a reminder then use the other side of the card to write the answers!

It's always useful to ask somebody to test you. Just give them a list of key words and ask them to read them out loud which you will then reply with the correct definition.

I also like to use dividers in textbooks where I find certain quotes or theorists that I want to include in my exams. Colour coding also works if you want to separate radical theorists from democrats etc. Make sure you take breaks every 30-45 mins of intense revision, or every hour if you're doing light revision. I like to switch my wifi off and only check my phone once I feel happy with my notes.

What are your pro tips for optimising revision? Do you use any methods I mentioned above?

Lots of love,

Maya xo

How to become more organised

Hey beauties!

I've never been an organised person in my life. Whenever I attempt to motivate myself to be organised at the beginning of an academic year it all goes down the drain pretty fast... I'm talking like a week tops. But the other day I bought quite a lot of stationary as I wanted to get organised just in time for my exams.

First of all, make sure you have a to-do list of things you would like to get done in a day/week/month and make sure you stick to it. I usually write down a bullet-pointed list of things I want to get done in a day, e.g. revision and coursework and then when I've done it I highlight or cross the task out so I feel like I've accomplished something great.
Another great idea is to buy a weekly planner and a packet of star shaped stickers like I've done. What I do with it, is write down daily tasks and put a sticker next to each task after I have done it so when I have a certain amount of stars at the end of the month I can treat myself to a high end products for working hard. So far it's been paying off slightly as I've become more determined to revise more.

Make sure you always have enough pens in different colours so you can annotate your notes in different topics etc. A refill pad is always helpful when you want to make a list of upcoming blog posts especially if you order them by dates or alphabetically.

I usually make posters and mind maps and put them all around the house so whenever I am doing something like brushing my hair I will look at my notes and revise them in my head. This is very helpful if your exams have a lot of context you need to learn so topics like history, psychology and geography.

Flashcards are the next best thing after mind maps. They are so helpful when it comes to revision as you can get someone to ask you questions about certain events or theorists which you then answer to ensure you know EVERYTHING. Also, make sure you keep all your files sorted out by topics and dividers in a folder, keep it all hole punched and stapled to keep all important documents together.

What are your favourite ways of keeping organised/revising?

Have you entered my MAC lipstick giveaway yet? You have until May 1st to do so!

Lots of love,

Maya xo