Organising For Beginners

Organisation skills – Studying Part TWO!

Ever since Year 11 onwards, I (Karen) have found studying a bore. It is painful and the more you try to learn, the more you realise how much you don’t know. But bear with me! From my experience, maybe you just aren't organising yourself as best as you can.

With University comes debt, paperwork and more paperwork. Deadlines and receipts where if you don’t keep organised, you’ll seriously lose your place in it all.
I've had to learn the hard way about being organised and I wouldn't wish it upon anyone to go through the same thing! So it’s time to help you get organised!

Tips to help you get organised:

1. Clean your room. Spring clean it.

Yes I said it! No I’m not your mother. Cleaning your room isn't a chore. It’s the opportunity for you to get rid of years of collecting dust, toys, and old clothes you’ll never wear.

Benefits:
A. You get to find money you forgot about (saving point)
B. You get a decent workout (no gym for today yay!)
C. All the clothes/items you don’t want can be donated (You’re a role model, Jim!)
D. You feel better once it’s done. You probably won’t have to do it again for quite a while!

2. Think about how your brain works.

Tricky twister isn’t it? Use your brain, to think about your brain. I did a workshop in year 10 that told me there are different learning modalities which means your brain responds to different kinds of learning settings (e.g.  you learn more by listening or doing something over reading). These settings can be applied to everyday life and will help you understand why you always forget your doctor appointment or that yearly visit to the vet for your pet.

A. Auditory- Learn better by listening to content > Discussion lectures that allow you to listen and respond

B. Visual – Take better notice through visual illustrations > Diagrams, Textbooks, Overheads.

C. Kinesthetic/Tactile – Like to take a more physical approach to learning > where movement is involved, games, internet etc.

Many people are a mixture of these, but there will be one that you are most predominant in. Here is a link to find out which one you are. (This won’t make you pay for anything or make you wait. We’re not mean people) BUT you have to do some addition to find your final result. So maybe I am a little bit mean after all. I’m sorry!
http://www.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/m/mentors0708kechiawilliams/learningstylesruvey.pdf

Once you know how your brain ticks, you can choose different methods to fully use this ability of yours. For information on other modalities, visit: https://tpri.wikispaces.com/Incorporating+Learning+Modalities+in+Writing
(they have other types of modalities I have not heard of, feel free to attach and mix yourselves within the groups).


3. Set allocated spaces for different things.

Don’t study where you sleep. Don’t sleep and study where you eat. This (no joke) will confuse your brain and when you study, you’ll get bored and hungry, or when you want to sleep, you’ll feel as if you need something to eat #firsthandexperience.
This goes the same for organising your books and files you need to keep. It is best to buy some cheap folders/clear slips to put these away and whenever you need them, just pull them out of a drawer or a box. 

Benefits: (Because you won’t consider it if you think there’s nothing good about it)

A. Tidiness. (Unless you’re a grub, then move along)
B. You won’t lose important papers.
C. If you put it away in a safe place, the robbers are less likely to steal it if it is hidden.
D. You can prioritize your space for more important things
E. When you need to file away something EXTRA important, you already have a designated space/folder to place that extra important item.

Some More Helpful Hints:

• Look at Josh's post down below in the Study section where he mentions REALLY helpful tips on how to get down to business in your student life
• Don't procrastinate on important things to do e.g. your 40% REPORT THAT IS DUE NEXT WEEK. You'll hate yourself for it and if you fail the unit you have another $3600 of debt to your name! 
• Don't give up! Lame, but true. 
• Find an inspiration/role model to help you through. It can even be your mother. On that note,
• Be nice to your parents. They love you and if sh** hits the fan, they can always pick you up off your feet.
• Don't Hoard unnecessary items. It will bit you in the butt if you do!
• Focus on one important thing at a time
• Give yourself time to relax and enjoy the life you live. 
• Ask friends & teachers for advice
• Don't think about the chore - JUST DO IT!

I can lecture you about how to get organised and tell you everything you should do (IMO), but everyone is different. 

These few tips will help you start your short journey of getting organised, once you've done it, the rest is easy! Or is it.......




Nah it really is! 


Until next time,

Karen

Secrets of a last-minute student

I know you're out there. Too many of you. Don't worry, I must be #1 perpetrator on the hit list. We are the ones who either cram in all our study the night before and are going through wk 13 lecture notes one minute before walking into an exam, hand in assignments literally one minute before submission or on a bad day where you are lacking motivation we get slapped on the wrist with a late penalty. I'll let you in on a little insight into how to do last-minute study.

“Punctual”. What does this word even mean. And while I'm at it..what's a better, more socially acceptable term for “cheating?” “Unethical?” Eh..so here goes...

If you need to buy some more time in submitting an assignment, why not be sneaky and “accidentally” send in a corrupt file on time, keep working on your assignment and send in the real one once your teacher has notified you that there was a “problem” with the formatting/uploading of your file and requests you to try sending again. Corrupted-Files.com offers a service that sells students (for a fee of around $5) intentionally corrupted files with the following instructions. "Step 1: After purchasing a file with the appropriate number of pages, rename the file e.g. Mike_Final-Paper. Step 2: E-mail the file to your professor along with your 'here's my assignment' e-mail. Step 3: It will take your professor several hours if not days to notice your file is 'unfortunately' corrupted. Use the time this website just bought you wisely and finish that paper!!!." I don't like to think of myself as a person promoting cheating. You are still doing the work yourself. Think about it this way if it makes you feel any better: would your professor rather you make up an excuse and hand in your own work a bit late or submit someone else's work on time?

*Warning: you may not fool a switched-on teacher but it's better than “the dog ate my homework” excuse.

*Disclaimer: I have not been smart enough to try this... or dumb enough to :P

Now I want to make sure we don't have any misunderstandings about the claim that winding your computer clock back can avoid a turnitin late penalty. Let me tell you loud and clear that this myth is busted. You can't fool the system in any way, as has been mentioned in an earlier blog. Turnitin's timestamp is based on your the university's settings when they set it up (usually by default it is the local timezone).

Now the most logical thing for me to say now is to not be late in the first place – to tell you not to leave things to the last minute.. but what a hypocrite I would be. It's not always because we're lazy, I swear!

So in terms of how to cram and chuck an all-nighter, buy yourself epic amounts of study food, sit down wrapped in a blanket, and chuck your phone away. Seriously!

You can even get your significant other to help you out with motivation by treating you at milestones (I.e. every 500 words) if you know what I mean.. ;) I'll leave it there.

Good luck in exams and any assignments to still be submitted!

Over and out,

The Uni Students.

How to Save like a Student

Hey guys!

Sometimes life just doesn’t understand that we have no time, no money, and nothing but a few dollars to our names as students. Luckily, my inner thrifty-self and friends have stumbled upon some secret and not-so-secret ways to get bargain buys without feeling like a homeless dude.

Stussy –  Nike – Santa Cruz – Sportsgirl –Roger David – Topshop – Iconic – Glue – General Pants Co. – Platypus –  Forever New – Fossil – G-Star – Lonsdale – Lorna Jane – Adidas – Portmans – Vans – Peter Alexander  – International Store

All these brands and stores are your enemy, and very rarely, you should only shop at them to take advantage of their sale rack and abuse the s**t out of it.  

Shop-A-Dockets

They’re usually free in magazines and newspapers and you get more value for money with those. http://www.shopadocket.com.au/

ALERT ALERT – STUDENT SHOP DISCOUNTS AT AWESOME WEBSITES –

Use your student email and sign up to UNIDAYS to receive discounts on MAJOR big brands around the globe. This site is great! Just redeem a code, zip it into the coupon section at checkout and BAM you can get 10, 20, 30% off the total value! https://www.myunidays.com/

*Discounts vary from shop. Discounts can change.

Online Shopping

Really, if you want to gain some time and keep that energy in you, Shop online! There’s heaps of stores selling the same styles of clothes for half the price (Don’t forget their sale section!).

Target, Big W – Salvos – Witness – Supre – Those-cheap-asian-stores-with-weird-names-like-sinj-or-dollhouse – Best-and-Less – Cocolatte – SES – Factorie – Cotton On – Jay-Jays – Kmart –

These stores will be your best friend and you will have a love-hate relationship with them.  It’s true, they’re not as fancy as Portmans, Stussy or Roger David. But they’re cheap. And you want to keep your money in your pocket, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this far into this post!

Donation Stores – Salvos, St Vincent De Paul

These Op shops are great for cheap buys and the day to day things you need. Why would you pay $30 for a white singlet when you can buy one for $3 at Salvos?
The best part of this is all money you pay is actually donated to the foundation you shop at. Thank-you! They also have frequent shopper rewards as well for being damn awesome at giving!

Also, here's a link to a list of some op shops around Sydney. http://www.opshop.org/list/nsw/sydney

Ye Olde Piggy Bank

Ye olde traditional bank of the pig. Yes. It won’t do a lot in these days but isn’t it fun when you spring clean and found you made $30 savings in coins with your piggy bank!?  I love it. Here’s a picture of my cute ducky bank. He currently weighs quite a load.

Transport

Sell that car park permit and catch the bus – Sydney has new Opal cards and there are concession cards for us students! See the benefits for all transport at https://www.opal.com.au/en/about-opal/. Who knows, you might find your next catch-of-the-day sitting next to you *insert winky face*.

Prepaid Sims

Ok so I have no idea the benefits of a prepaid sim card BUT everyone around me does and they SAVE their cash! Do your research and find the best prepaid sims on the market. Optus currently has a $2 sim card that let you recharge on any phone and give you enough to scope the net, call your bestie AND text that crush!

Pre-Drinks at Mine! No Yours!

Everybody loves to pre-drink but did you every think of the amount of cash you save pre-drinking? I won’t do the math for you, but if a drink in Kings Cross costs on average $10…. A bottle of alcohol on average costs $35…. Take one down, pass it around…

*Drink Responsibly :)

 The final advice I have to give to you is just simply… DON’T SPEND YOUR CASH. Resist your urges to splurge. You’re badass as you can be without the extra clothes. Go be YOU!

- The Uni Students

How to Beat TURNITIN

Wad up cheats, liars and drunks, you read the title so lets do this!

As an increasing amount of universities around the world employ and use TURNITIN I decided to delve into the world of how to beat it.

While researching for this blog I consulted many of my tutors and fellow students at Uni and I found that similar methods kept coming up in conversation, firstly I would like to address these.

Replacing common English charters (e) with non-English (è) characters that look similar to confuse TURNITIN. This method is flawed as TURNITIN will recognise these and change them back to English and then check its database. Furthermore, it will then check the original copy with the non-English characters against its database. So it you use this, you're screwed.

Another method I heard was replacing spaces with white colored font characters to keep the word count down as well as masking copied material. TURNITIN checks for abnormal word lengths so if you use this you better believe you are screwed!

The other method I heard has the best possibility of working, only if the marker is honestly fucking stupid, is to place copied material in quotation marks.  In theory this works because it will recognise the material as a direct quote and therefore skip it. WRONG. TURNITIN will still check this. However, the person marking can turn this feature off but if there are large sections still in quotation marks they will be notified.

While researching this I found an interesting blog by a uni professor about this exact topic.  (http://blog.unemployedprofessors.com/how-to-beat-turnitin-com/). He goes onto say…

“Let me tell you a bit about what TURNITIN looks like from the inside, and why you can’t beat it. When I open TURNITIN, I see the names of all the students in my class. The filenames that they uploaded are next to their names, followed by an originality measure, and a bar that’s either green, yellow, or red. (DUDE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT TURNS RED? THAT’S SOME OMINIOUS STUFF). That’s TURNITIN matching the text that you submitted (forget about the macros – I’ve tried it myself – it does not work) with everything in its database.”

- Professor Rogue, 2012

Moreover he said that any copied text is shown to the marker when you are using TURNITIN because the program has the ability to breakdown a word document and idenitfy copied and pasted material. But even if you think, ‘oh if I delete a few words and replace them I can get around it.’ NOPE, you better believe TURNITIN will be onto your arse.

However, in saying all of this, I had to find a way around TURNITIN. So I fired up Tor and started surfing the deep web, browsing a lot of forums and found a few methods. Yes, they exist but they are so extravagant that it just makes me think that if you know how to reference properly writing your own material is honestly a lot easier.

so guys and gals, that’s how the Uni student warn you about getting caught by TURNITIN…

-Josh

The secret life of a student in a student group

Hey all you newbies,

if you are in your first year of uni, you probably don’t have any friends (boo hoo). You are lost with all the uni assignments and you try your very best to get great results. Well guess what, you need more than just your HDs to land yourself a job. You need to be build communication skills, be able to work in a team and organisation skills. If you are already good at it, well done, go pat yourself on the shoulder (i was being sarcastic) this post is for those who don’t have these skills, if you do stop reading (jks I still want you to read the post) 

I've been a part of student groups since I was in my first year, before which I was a loner, who spent most of my time playing Tetris in the computer labs and asking my friends to send me ‘energy’. It is key that when one looks around during O week to find student groups, they need to consider a variety of things such as the benefits that society offers such as food, stationary, candy, discounts, friends and even if there was that hot chick who was promoting a student society and you had no idea what she said but you ended up paying the $10 joining fee and later realise where the fuck did my money go? and since when do i have 50 unread emails from the dark arts society? who the hell joins that? jk I don’t judge.

I was with a friend during Mac-fest and he was mentioning that we should join this society called AIESEC. I always loved volunteering and helping the less fortunate ever since I was young; and I joined AIESEC thinking I had the opportunity to go to Africa, build a well and fulfil my lifelong dream of saving at least seven people. YES only seven. (I know right? WTF was I thinking?) (and yes, I was young and naïve, also did i mention i also wanted to be a Pope.. but that can be a story for another blog post! #PLEASEFOLLOW). However, instead of going on exchange, I was volunteering soooo much of my gawd damn time to send others overseas (don’t worry guys, I might go exchange someday #pleasesponsorme).

AIESEC’s vision is “Peace and fulfilment of humankind’s potential” like what the hell does that mean? They try to achieve this by creating responsible leaders? hahaha bitch please. nah but once you’re in it, you do see how it create leadership and all they links starts to tie up and its like you have an epiphany.  

 

Here’s some dancing for the LOLs. Yea they do a lot of that… it’s kind of awkward at first but you just get into it and just follow everyone because even though you probably look retarded, the person next to you looks more of a retard. So #Yolo

Most student groups you become part of it by paying a membership fee between $5 and $20. AIESEC was a different story altogether, it felt like I was applying for a job with the long application process which included a resume, online application, interview, group interview and finally, induction.

Long story short, if you join a student group such as AIESEC you get out of it as much as you put in. When I applied I was required a minimum of 8 hours a week however you end up putting way more than that is required as it doesn’t feel like a chore [and you score a few lifelong friends along the way]

-Tharinda

Happy Hour @ The Food Court and Ubar

Hey freeloaders,

“Happy Hour.” This phrase actually does make me instantly happy! I’m a food junkie! Whenever I see a sign in the food court with deals, I’m there. But you have to know what time to be there for the very best deal. 4-5pm. You might even score some free leftovers right at the end of the day. 

Alternatively, you could scab off your friends. Spread a soppy story about how you lost your lunch money and they’ll be sure to help out. Or maybe not. They might be a bitch. Or just onto you!

On a more social note, Ubar’s happy hour is 8-10pm. Did anyone else notice that that is not an hour!? Why!

Start the night out at pre’s of course so by the time you get to happy hour you’re already tipsy but can then get sloshed with cheap cheap drinks. 

Ubar actually also has daily afternoon FREE social session in their happy hour/s… and who wouldn’t take advantage of free fun! 

Hope you enjoyed this post. Until next time,

The Uni Students. 

My Method for Studying at Uni!

What up Peeps,

Studying tends to take up a fairly large component of your free time when living a Uni lifestyle. In recognition of this I thought, why not discuss it? I view studying as three broad areas, and like a Venn diagram, where these overlap evenly, this is where you will be most productive. I will discuss each area in the hope that you will become an efficient studying machine!

Mindset

As an ex-semi-professional swimmer the power of a positive mindset became apparent to me very quickly. As I took a step back from my swimming career I wanted to apply this in a similar way to my studies. The best way to describe and to help you apply a positive mindset is shown by research from Carol Dwek. She shows that there are two different mindsets especially when applied to learning. One being a ‘fixed mindset’ and the other being a ‘growth mindset.’ Dwek’s study shows that some people see intelligence as fixed (fixed mindset) while other people see intelligence as qualities that can be developed (growth mindset).  More importantly the study shows that these both lead to different behaviours and results. Students who relate towards a growth mindset see intelligence as something that can change over time while those with a fixed mindset do not. The study shows no matter how hard a student tries fundamentally the mindset needs to change to see significant results. Henceforth, a growth mindset is beneficial for studying.

Switching from a fixed mindset can be as simple as thinking to yourself, “I don’t know calculus” to “I haven’t learnt calculus yet”. The first thought suggests that you do not know calculus now and that you will not know calculus in the future. However, the second thought implies that calculus is not known because you have not been taught and further implies the possibility to learn calculus.

Use a growth mindset to your advantage it’s a powerful tool.

Goals

While tackling your mindset and changing you attitude is great there needs to be a direction for your attention. This is where goals are needed. Goals, in accordance with a growth mindset are dynamic however, there also needs to be rigidity too. For example, rigidity (in a Uni scenario) the degree you are studying, but flexibility as to what subjects you choose to make up your degree.

It is important to recognise that goals come in three different areas, each just as important as the other:

1.     Long term – years in length, example, what direction you want to go in after you graduate.

2.     Mid term – a period comprising of a semester or the length of your degree.

3.     Sort term – a period of a week long to a month long at a time

Each type of goal is as important as the other. Each type of goal has flexibility and rigidity and I will lay using my own goals:

1.     Long Term: Rigidity - I want to be a geologist. Flexibility I am not sure if I want to go into industry or research yet.

2.     Mid Term: Rigidity – I want to finish this semester with no grades under a distinction to ultimately graduate my Science/Arts degree with a good GPA. Flexibility – I want my degree average to be a distinction, the occasions credit will not jeopardise this.

3.     Short Term: Rigidity – I need to start assignments this week that are due next week or in a few weeks. I need to revise what I have already covered this semester to start studying for final exams. Flexibility – Allowing to go to the gym, spend to with my girlfriend and friends. Oh and time to work. Yuck.

As you can see with my example I started with an ultimate long-term goal and everything else cascades into something constructive to build upon and to help myself grow into this goal. It is important to have structured goals in this way.

Study Execution

Now you have worked out your mindset and why you want to apply it through goals, the next step is to actually apply yourself. The first barrier you encounter when studying is motivation. To help combat this surround yourself with like minded people with similar goals. This will create a positive environment with people encouraging good work ethics to fully exploit your brainpower. This method is very useful and whenever I can I try to surround myself with people who are smarter than me to learn for them.

Moving forward, I like to think of studying as a three-part process, part one being attending Uni, part two completing assignments and part three is revising.

Part One – Attendance

Attendance – Attend everything! The ONLY exception is if you need extra time to finish assignments. If you are sick, watch lectures at home, do not attend pracs or tuts but get special consideration if your attendance is recorded.

While attending lectures I have devised my own way of note taking. This topic seems to divide Uni students, so why not talk about? There are two types of people, those who copy everything down and those who choose to listen in lectures and write hardly anything down. I am the latter. I feel as though notes of about lectures should be whatever is not on lecture slides. You can print off lecture slides but I do not. I write the title of the lecture at the top of the page, anything that isn’t on the slides and for anything that I want to revise I make note of it along with any slide titles that will help. Lecturers normally will point out what to study for an exam/assessment or go on important tangents that are to help you with assessments. Record these!! This method allows you to focus on what the lecturer is explain and for you to concentrate on learning concepts from an expert before you go home and revise it.

Part Two – Assignments

Firstly, time allocation for me goes something like this… Research should take at least 60% of your time, writing and constructing your arguments should take 30% while re-reading and referencing take up the remaining 10%.

Secondly, and most importantly finish assignments at least two days before they are due! To help plan for this, make your short-term goals steps towards completing your assignments. Create a mental plan and make this a priority.

Finally, my most efficient method is to do all of my research at night just before I go to bed, then immediately when I wake up I type out a plan (sometimes in bed before I gut up) then I have a shower, breakfast and then write my assignment. I have found this to be the most efficient way to write an assignment. Especially at the last minute, not like I would know but yeah… Trust me.

To wrap this part up I suggest aiming for 2-3hours before you go to sleep, do your research or revise. Then when you go to sleep your brain will process this information and committed it to memory. When you wake up, then either revise the material from the previous night or write the assignment you researched the night before. Repeat this over a few days and you will have a well-polished assignment or well-memorised notes.

Part Three – Revising

Okay, I am aware guys. This is this boring part. It takes the most time and nobody enjoys it, unless you have some sick twisted Uni fetish, then seek help. Anyway, I am a strong believer in a process I call ‘who, what, where and when.’ The name is self-explanatory and I have greatly maximised my studying efficiency using this method. I am now passing this method onto you. Pick it apart and take from it what you want but please you it wisely.

Who. Who you study with is very simple. So I won’t spend much time covering it. Do not study in groups often. Studying in groups is fun, so this should ring alarm bells because it seems makes studying fun and for that reason it means it does not work. It is nature’s way of balancing the universe. However, to break a dry pattern of revising by yourself, maybe organise a study group. It is also a great way to trade notes. Case in point, study by yourself, not only do you stay on topic a lot easier your grades will thank you in the long term.

What. Try to only study material that you will be assessed on. This is much like an arts student trying to find direction in life, so make assumptions, just like arts students with employment. When you attend lectures, try to pick up on what lectures spend the most time on, this will most likely be assessed at some stage during the semester. Most importantly, gather as much information as you can on the assessment or exam as you can. This should give you the best idea of how to revise for it. These sources come in the form of past papers, talking to past students who have sat the exam or finished the assessment (try to only talk to people who went well), lecture slide, tutorial and prac notes and finally one last tip, ask your tutors they are much easier to get information out of.

Where. Choosing a study location is probably the hardest to give advice on. Everybody is different in this facet and you will need to find an environment that suits you the best. However, I can tell you what not to do. Do not revise in bed, do not revise all the time with friends and not revise in an environment with a lot of white noise. I like to revise to music.

When. The time of day does impact on your performance so identify it wisely. I recommend studying for a few hours before you go to bed or just after you wake up. I try to study for an absolute maximum of 2hrs at once. This two hours includes a food/drink after 1hr. When you revise something just before you go to bed, try to revise either the same material or very similar material. This method has boosted my marks dramatically. It may not work for you so I advise you manipulate it for how you operate.

It is important to keep your options open when setting goals, try to keep as many open as possible during this process. It is not life and death if you mindset slips occasionally, all you can do is stay positive and get back on track. I hope these tips and explanations on what method I use. These skills are like a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly to grow and develop. Your time at Uni is short, it may seem long now but it will be over before you know it. Get studying!

and that is how this uni student do studying...