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daphnedauphinoise · 8 months

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Dear Daphne,

I was wondering if you could advice me on topics or skills I must study before I head to university next year? Apart from the obvious skills required to live by myself. Interpret this and give advice however you so wish, and hope you have a lovely day x

Hello!!

First of all congratulations! I have done quite a few of these kind of posts so I am going to keep things brief...

Your first year is for you to enjoy BUT remember all years count. Your grades in first year aren't terribly important but important nontheless. Make sure you are doing well enough and by that I don't mean barely passing.

Join societies and find one or two that you can see yourself sticking to and stick to them. Building good rapport with that society and its memembers will make it easier for you to get onto the committee later on. I think if you really want to stand out, aim to be the president of your subject society later on.

In taht note, being a student rep for your year is a great way to get to know faculty and know people in your year. I don't really think you can ever know too many people and everything has it's own benefits.

You are going to have and should have stand in friends. 'Stand in friends' are people you are friends for the sake of being friends with, and despite what everyone says they are good to have. During your three-four years you are going to be fast friends with so many people and 90% of them aren' going to stay ( you will also be this for so many people too). One key skill you will need to learn is to differentiate who are your solid friends and who you just want to sit next to in the lecture hall so you are not alone. I am all for deep meaningful friendhsips but you also need people who you are just having a good time with and there is nothing more. Don't underestimate the power of going into a hall of 200 people and having at least 5 different people you can talk to.

There is no universal way of taking notes and you need to find a method that works a) for you b) for your subjuect area c) the teaching style of your professor. This is especially for those doing double degrees in polar subjects (eg. philosophy and maths ). I feel like there is only one note taking style you should use universally and its such a big fat lie. I will probably write another post on this but in short, use the first couple weeks to figure out what style of note taking works for that specific class.

Going back to making friends, stop wasting your time and money at clubs. Going out once a while is great for you and your mental health but if your bank is dry, you are catching something every week and you are barely awake for classes... get a grip. Maybe this is my own prudeness coming in but you are wanting to make the most of your time at uni and being a student you need to be better at striking work/play balance.

Just turn up to classes. There is a galaxy of difference in your understanding between when you were there to listen and process and watching the recordings. I skive lectures sometimes and that sometimes is fine but attendance for tutorials should be a must (again i have first hand experience of not turning up and then it impacting my grade) Far too many people skive and trust me teachers do notice because in our last lec of the year last semetser, a girl got the worst attendance prize... that she wasnt there to get

find an exercise you like and stick with it. This is mainly for your mental health. I used to make myself run outside in winter because I knew it would be good for me. Yeah, its cold and a little tiring but that is a measly exchange for the endorphines you need during exam season.

Other things I feel like you already know. But I will say, do the things you know you should. Keep on top of your notes, have weekly phone calls with your high school friends, eat well, sleep well. Wishing you all the best

D x

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