If I had to pick just one word to describe my university experience to date it would be BUSY! Busy as a Brescia student that is!!

There is so much going on everyday of the week that I often find it difficult to remember my primary goal – Building my education and thriving through academic achievement. Who wouldn’t find it hard to concentrate when there are so many fabulous girls on their floor?

From Clubs week to Conferences, Community Garden meetings to Nutrition Sessions, I barely have time to myself! People joke because I have a nice big room yet I almost never in it.

So where do I hide away? This past week, my second home was the library. In total, I must have spent at least 30 hours there studying for Chemistry, Calculus and Health Sciences. Thank goodness the Beryl Ivey Library is quiet and comfortable which helped me to concentrate through those tedious times.

Although my anxiety skyrocketed and I worried that I wouldn’t ever be able to finish the tasks at hand, I can thankfully say that I have survived and am ALMOST done this “crunch”. I only have one final paper to submit until I am “Free”… well until November 5^th that is!

With the help of my sister, I have established some pretty good study habits that I’m going to share with you. Hopefully they help you to take school work one day (or step) at a time.

-       Set attainable goals

• This helps you to ensure that you don’t run out of time
• Creates a sense of accomplishment
• Puts an end to the studying (This way you can enjoy yourself and you aren’t still thinking about what you have to do. It is important to schedule in fun times and activities for motivation)

-       Break things down

• Looking at your entire textbook is a little bit overwhelming
  • Break the material down into topics
• Generalize –> Not every fact is testable

-       Start early

• Cramming is not productive
• Start learning and reviewing the material in advance so that your daily goals can be smaller
• (I had three exams on consecutive days so I knew that I couldn’t start studying the day before)

-       Anticipate questions

• If the exam is multiple choice, there is no way that you will be asked to draw a picture (However, you might need to analyze one)
• Professors like to trick you – watch for “Not Not” questions and tricky wording

-       Get lots of sleep and eat healthy foods

• This maximizes your efficiency when you are awake
• Nutrition is fuel

-       Go for extra help

• TAs and Professors are always willing to guide you

-       Repeat facts out loud

• Talking about what you are studying helps to reinforce the information
• You get to share your wealth of knowledge

Regardless, it is important to remember that you tried your best and at the end of the exam the mark you receive is only a mark. There is almost always room for improvement and professors do not expect perfection. Make sure that you understand where you went wrong because most exams are cumulative. This prevents you from making the same mistakes on your future exams.

Just remember that if exams were easy, the success rates of university would be too high. We can’t have a million doctors or teachers- there just isn’t enough employment opportunities!

I try to remind myself that although I may not be getting the same marks as I did in High School, I am still above the average. Yes, maybe I could have studied for a couple extra hours here and there, but those hours were used in other valuable ways (Such as volunteering). In the end, be proud of your accomplishments! Accept, Forgive and possibly Forget !!

❤ Molly