#bullet notes

I recently finished my first semester at university and am now settling into second semester. I know that for a lot of students who are in their last year of high school are eager to start post-secondary (I know I was) and here are some of the tips I wish I knew. 

Prioritize your readings - In an ideal world I would have the time and energy to finish all of my readings every week, I am in reading heavy courses and there are some weeks where I do not finish all of my readings. During those weeks where you’re extra busy set out a plan. When are you going to do your readings? What order are you going to do your readings in? Some classes readings are a must, others you can get by if you miss a few, figure out which classes are which. But always try to get all or most of your readings completed. 

High school essays are not uni essays - Your profs are not looking for a five paragraph essay talking about a vague theme in your readings or course content. Let’s say you’re writing about love- character A and character B are express love in complicated ways because of trauma. Ok, so that’s nice and all but why do I care? Why does that matter? What is the author trying to say/comment on? In more fact based papers, always define terms you are speaking about (ex. intersex, eugenics, etc.). Always expand and be clear. Always, always, ALWAYS reference course material, this is key to a good mark. 

Go to class - I think this is obvious but always go to class. Always go to your tutorials (you get attendance marks and it’s a smaller space to ask questions). 

Take notes and listen - I have never taken this many notes in my life. My pens run out of ink, my notebooks are filled and it’s amazing to look down and see all the information I am receiving. Depending on the course I take notes on both paper and my laptop. Courses where the content is less familiar or I need to engage with the content more I always take handwritten notes because it pushes me to focus. 

Sleep - You need sleep. Make sleep a priority. If you do not get some form of proper rest your work will reflect it. We each have a different minimum of sleep we need to function fully but find out that minimum and try not to go below it. 

Relate and engage - I do a lot better in the courses I am actually interested in. I relate the content to everyday life, I take the time to be critical of my own assumptions/biases, and I (learn to) love the coursework. There are some classes where I am excited to do work, take notes, and do assignments, these are the classes that will make it all worth it.