(UED 102 STUDY SKILLS) BY MISS NURSURIA BINTI MD. SETAMAM

:) GETTING READY TO LEARN (:

As we all aware, enrolling in a university or college means that we have took one step further in our journey of life and one step leaving our comfort zone. I know some of us come from a boarding school but I am sure that most of the students come from a daily school. And yes, we will confront everything with the word new in front of it- new setting, new circle of friends, new lifestyle and new teachers or lecturers what we call them here.- So, how do we endure this? Here comes the important part.

Firstly, we have to identify the differences between the life in secondary school and university.

Secondly, adaptation skills are needed after we have identified all the differences. As the theory of Charles Darwin about adaptation said, it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives (it is not the strongest that survives) but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself. Look at how important for us to know the adaptation skills. But, what are the steps to adaptation? Here, I have listed a few steps on how to adapt well with new environment :-

1. Set a positive mindset about everything new that you will have to face.

2. Make new friends as this will slowly but surely help you to overcome homesickness.

3. Bear in mind that you are working your way towards your ambition *thumbs up*

**or you can also read these steps to adapt to the timetable in university (as the classes' schedule might be a little bit different from the secondary school)

1.Plan ahead for those first few lectures by making sure you know where you need to be and when. This way you won’t stress yourself out by getting lost or being late.

2. Make sure you have plenty of stationary (there will be a lot of note taking) and learn to take good notes.

3. If you are given a module outline in the first lecture make sure you read it through so you can be prepared for what’s to come. Take note of suggested readings, it doesn’t ever hurt to read too much.

4. Manage your time. Try to get yourself into a study routine, working this around your other commitments and activities. Familiarise yourself with the library, with all the independent learning this is a very handy place to know about.

5. If you are worried about how to adapt to the university with the way of learning, don't panic! Ask for help from your friends, seniors or even lecturers and it is way better if you know your lecturers or academics advisor well. Everyone, please remember to always work SMART. What is SMART?

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Realistic

Time-based

and that's all for the adaptation skills. Moving on, we might also face a few challenges as we are moving to this new setup such as:-

1. Bad time management/Procrastination

2. Speed lecture

3. Test anxiety

4. Comprehension issues

but don't worry too much as the university provides help for all of the students. If any of us need help, let's just take a walk to the Students' Affairs building or the Counselling centre *wink wink*

:) GOALS SETTING (:

Goals? What does that means? Is it something that we might need for our future? Do we really have to have a goal for ourselves? What effect does goals have towards our journey in university? These questions might linger in our mind as we heard the word GOALS. Let's take a look at the definition of goal:-

                                          

1. (in football, rugby, hockey, and some other games) a pair of posts linked by a crossbar and typically with a net between, forming a space into or over which the ball has to be sent in order to score.

2. The object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.

As in our cases, we are talking about the second definition of goal. Or in a more simple meaning, goal means the end towards which we direct our effort or what we want to achieve in life. There are 2 types of goals; academic and personal goals. As you can see, to achieve our goal, it comes along with an effort and our goal(s) should have some characteristics in which those characteristics are:-

1. Self choosen

--> if our goal is something that we have no interest into, we would find it less attractive to put our effort on it let alone to accomplish it.

2. Moderately challenging

--> setting a high sky goal is okay but do acknowldege our own ability as we are the one who are going to put all of our effort into completing the tasks to reach our goal.

3. Realistic and Measurable

--> set up a realistic and measurable goal where you can see the path that you need to take in order to reach your goal.

4. Specific

--> be specific with your goal so you won't get drifted away from the right path of reaching your goal.

5. Positive

--> having a positive goal is a must! why would we have a negative goal right? A positive goal will boost up your spirit on your way to reach the goal you have carefully setup.

6. Finite

--> this means to have limits or bounds. Always remember to have limits when we put our effort towards getting to our goal. Reaching our goal as quick as we can is our definite achievement but let it be within our limitations. Do work our way to our goal slowly but surely.

Some examples of academic goals:-

1. Getting a 4.00 pointer for every semester

2. Being listed in the Dean List

3. Graduate

Some examples of personal goals:-

1. Getting your dream job

2. Getting your dream car and house

3. Go travelling at any part of world that you want

So, let's start planning our goals! J

:) TIME MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS (:

Time is 

Too Slow for those who Wait, 

Too Swift for those who Fear, 

Too Long for those who Grieve, 

Too Short for those who Rejoice; 

But for those who Love, 

Time is not.

                                                      by Henry Van Dyke

Time is so precious in our life because as time passed by, we couldn't turn back time and we would feel regret if we had waste the time that is so precious. But first, do we all know what time is?

Definition of time:-

NOUN --> progress of existence and events in the past, present and future.

VERB --> plan, schedule or arrange when should happen or be done

The main problem that have connection with time and bugging most of the students is procrastination.

What is procrastination?

Procrastination means the action of delaying or postponing something. We have to know why we procrastinate in order to prevent it. So here I listed a few reasons why we procrastinate:-

1.    We are being a perfectionist

2.    We want to avoid failure

3.    Being rebellious

4.    Feeling overwhelmed by laziness

So after we have identify all the reasons of procrastination, now we can initiate ways to prevent procrastination. Let’s get to it down below:-

1.    Take a look back at our goal(s)

2.    Alert to the due date of the tasks given

3.    Plan to work on all of the assignments according to their priorities

4.    Give yourself a reward when a task is completed ;)

Now, let’s take a look at the advantage of being an organized person shall we?

1.    We would always keep track on our schedule and always meet our due date(s)

2.    Reduce stress level (we are in control of our body)

3.    Complete our works without stress

4.    Build our confidence

4 STRATEGIES STUDY SYSTEM ☆

v  Weekly schedule

v  Daily planner

v  Semester calendar

v  Academic VS personal life