As if life wasn’t complicated enough as is, when you’re a college student, it becomes even more complicated. Not only do you have to deal with moving away from home into a dorm, adjusting to early morning classes that are more demanding than you thought, but finals and tests have you on the edge as well. If you’re struggling to keep everything together, we’re here to help you out by offering 5 useful hacks that are going to make your student days much easier.
#1 – Don’t skip classes
In high school, you could get away with skipping certain classes because you were able to catch up on all the work at home. The main problem was that the teachers would be looking for you and you’d get in trouble with your parents. At uni, on the other hand, no one is going to make you go to class, which seems like heaven at first. Sadly, the classes are so challenging and the courses so difficult, that you’re going to need all the help you can get and going to classes is the biggest favour you can do for yourself. By not skipping classes, you’re ensuring that you don’t get left behind the rest of your class and your grades will be better too.
#2 – Use supermarket specials
Australia has some of the most highly ranked universities in the world, but that also means they’re among the most expensive ones. Not only does Australian education come at a high price, but the expenses of housing and healthcare are high as well, which means you could use any spare dollar. Planning your grocery shopping is a good idea, especially if you’re on the lookout for special discounts that supermarkets regularly offer. If you see that some of the non-perishable food items such as ramen, rice, pasta, and canned goods are on sale, stock up because you’ll be grateful when you run out of money.
#3 – Arm yourself with notes and papers
You’ll notice how important it is to catch notes during every lecture, but even the most dedicated students aren’t always able to catch perfect notes. This is where the internet steps in to help you – there are websites that allow you to access notes and papers from the past semesters and use them as additional reading material or to fill any holes your notes might have. An amazing Australian website has a collection of Griffith Uni past papers you can use and compare yours to the notes of other students. You might even find clues that will tell you what to focus on, and having more sources to learn from has never been a bad idea.
#4 – Use services and resources
Once you’re enrolled in university, you gain access to a number of things on campus, including different services and resources. A lot of students struggle at some point in their studies, experience financial and emotional difficulties, and have to battle stress and anxiety. If you’re experiencing any difficulties or you find yourself facing problems that seem too much for you, know that there’s always staff around who are willing to answer any of your questions and provide different forms of counsel and support. Don’t hesitate to ask for help because smaller problems can easily be dealt with, and you’ll feel better knowing you can rely on someone.
#5 – Listen to your essays
When you become too invested in something, it’s difficult to proofread it and be objective. Asking friends for help is always a good idea, but the bad thing about the uni is that everyone has exams at pretty much the same time, which means that your friends won’t have too much free time on their hands. Instead, you could try having your essay read aloud to you by Google. Just copy-paste the text into Google Translate and press the ‘read aloud’ button to hear your paper. The unfamiliar voice will help you catch any mistakes, strange phrases and other weird errors you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.
You will notice that you lose motivation as the end of the school year and exams get closer – but don’t lose hope. This is the time to show to yourself and everyone else what you’re made of and shine. Even when you’re struggling and fear that you’ll fall apart because of all the stress, just remind yourself that you’ve been strong and resilient enough to make it this far, and these hacks will help you stay on the right track.
