Top Tips for Freshers

Due to transferring universities, I have now been a fresher twice. This means I've picked up a few tips on how to enjoy the experience as much as possible so I thought I'd share my top 10!

1. Don't be afraid to try something new. Join a society or a club that sounds fun, or join a gym, or start a part time job doing something you haven't done before. It can be a great way to make friends but also keep fit, make money or just relax when you've finished your uni work.
2. Don't feel pressured to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. While I'm all for stepping out of your comfort zone to try a new hobby, you shouldn't feel like you have to do anything you really don't want to. I don't drink much, and had been worried that I'd be pushed to at uni, but true friends are respectful of your wishes and will do other things with you.
3. Never walk home by yourself at night!!! I cannot stress this enough! It's so dangerous for men as well as women! Get a bus or a taxi or call a friend.
4. Try to cook properly and exercise regularly. It is so easy to gain weight in first year from all the alcohol and pot noodles and losing it is more difficult than keeping it off in the first place.
5. Budget, budget, budget! It may be a pain but it is honestly so worth it. I use an app called Monzo to keep track of my spending each week/month (not an ad, I just think they're brilliant).
6. Go to your lectures. This may sound either boring or obvious, but the temptation to sleep through a 9am is real and going to them will help you so much with exams/essays and also your work in second and third year.
7. Go to the Freshers Fair. So much free stuff! And a great chance to get information about uni life and societies you can join.
8. Personalise your room! Put up photos, posters, cards and fairy lights to make your room a happy place and hopefully ward off homesickness.
9. Call your family at least once a week. It'll make them happy, I promise.
10. Don't be afraid of speaking out! If you're unhappy or need financial help or just simply want help with an essay, your uni will have someone on hand to help you out.

Most of all, enjoy yourself! You only do uni once (usually) so make the most of it.

10 Tips for Studying

Exam season for me is just beginning, but for many of you it is probably well underway. Either way, if you're anything like me you'll take any advice you can get on how to get all the information you need on board! Again, I have uploaded these to YouTube too and you can view that here.

1. Snacking. Snacks are important for motivation and keeping your energy up, but they can also aid your memory as your brain associates different tastes with certain memories. My friend Midge also asked me how to eat crisps quietly in the library, and my advice was to empty them into a tub first because the packet is very loud so if this is a question you'd ask too then there's your answer!
2. Different herbs can be helpful for revision, and if this is something that interests you it may be worth researching it to more depth. However, two that I'm aware of are rosemary and lavender. Ellie-Mae tells me that rosemary helps you turn short term memories into long term memories much quicker and lavender relaxes you and helps you sleep!
3. Set yourself realistic targets. There was an article in the news earlier this year that said A Level students should be doing 7 hours revision a day, but make sure you only do what you can manage. Take plenty of breaks as well. My tutor recently told me I should be doing two sessions of 20-50 minutes of revision a day. That is easy to do.
4. Don't force yourself into a revision task that doesn't work for you. Colourful notes, songs and answering questions worked for me but those things won't necessarily work for everyone! Find out what helps you and do it.
5. Make sure there's a separation between where you work and where you sleep. Do not revise in bed!! You will carry that stress with you and will struggle to get those zzzzzzs.
6. Make sure you are comfortable. If you are in pain, or have something poking you, or are too hot, or too cold, or it's too bright or too loud then you will never be able to focus fully on the task at hand.
7. DO. NOT. CRAM. You won't absorb the information at all effectively and it will just make you unnecessarily stressed. The night/morning before should be spent relaxing as much as you possibly can to get you in the right mind set.
8. Think about WHY what you're learning is important - don't try and memorise all of the facts in the text book, think about which ones will help you answer the questions you may be asked.
9. Teach others. By explaining it to someone else, you will begin to understand it better and also you'll find it easier to put into words when you get those dreaded 'explain your answer' questions. It also helps you with point number 8.
10. Stay Calm. This is easier said than done but it is THE most important thing to remember. Do anything you can, take deep breaths, smell lavender, listen to calming music, drink moulted milk, whatever works for you.

I hope some of these tips will be useful to you, and feel free to comment some of your own as I will take any advice I can get!