KATHMANDU:

College or university life may be very different from your school life. At times you may find yourself feeling a bit lost. You may even think that you’ve made a mistake coming here. However, the thing to remember is that you’ve come here to study and to succeed.

But how? Well, the first thing is to make friends and try to make a space for yourself. Then the most important thing is to concentrate on your studies. And here’s how you can do it.

Location: Find a good location to study. Use the libraries, study rooms, or empty classrooms.

Make it a habit: Do your coursework every day. Cramming work is not conducive to learning or for retaining large amounts of information. Dividing time for your courses each day is the best way to study.

Seek help if necessary: Whether you’re an excellent or and average student, you can always improve your skills. Get to know your professors. Use study guides and help centres.

Write it down: Use a day planner or wall calendar. Plan time for coursework. Plan ahead for assignments and exam periods.

Get energised: Have a healthy meal, exercise regularly and make sure you get enough sleep. Fatigue and stress weaken memory and comprehension.

Perform like a pro: When you go to class be prepared and take thorough note.

Don’t miss class: Someone else’s notes aren’t going to be as good as having attended the lectures and having your own notes. While taking notes, listen for emphases and examples.

Lectures and textbooks: University learning requires understanding how pieces of information fit together to form a “big picture.” Use course outlines, tables of content, and headings and subheadings to organise information.

Remember key information: Come up with examples that you will find easy to remember, create mnemonics, make summary notes, identify key words, highlight textbooks, or add margin notes. Improve your memory by being creative and interested.

Revise: No matter how well you understand something, without practice forgetting will occur. Before a test, revise notes and practice previous years questions.

Be test smart: Don’t lose marks because of test-writing errors. Use strategies to tackle different types of tests (for example multiple-choice). Read instructions, budget time to marks, and do less difficult questions first to build confidence.