#tips

Assalamu'alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.

I have been absence for 2 solid months and I've missed blogging a lot. I know I promised to myself to blog more and skipping 2 months is not how it's done but I don't want to be posting something that is cincai. Please understand 😜

Anyways, I am done with first year of degree and is currently enjoying semester break. I have been at home for 3 weeks now and I LOVE it so far however I have started to feel excited for 2nd year and I want the semester to start ASAP. I'm always like this whenever I'm on semester break, sheesh. Half of me thinks that it is a good feeling to have as that energy keeps me motivated to study but the other half of me just enjoy being lazy at home and not be productive AT ALL. 

My past entry I did on Dengkil got a lot of views and I know most of the readers are students who got enrolled there. I'm happy if I helped anybody out there to get a little information on Uitm Dengkil. I was the first batch so a lot of things have improved by now, that entry might not be relevant anymore huhu. I also know a lot of you guys out there will be enrolled for degree in September, some will start a new semester, also for uitm diploma students; your very long holiday will end soon! 

Therefore, in conjunction to that, I would like to share you some tips on how to be (and stay) organized the whole semester. These helped me A LOT, and made my first year of degree (also a year of foundation!) a lot easier. I'm not an excellent student in any way but it did helped me get my work done on time, be mindful of the deadlines, and get me prepared for tests & quizzes.

1# Write

It is very important for you to jot down notes and important dates. Block those dates immediately so you can budget your time to get the assignments done, or to be prepared for tests & quizzes. Lecturers usually will give you the course contents and lesson plan so you will be informed beforehand on the weeks that you will have to submit assignments, test 1, test 2, quizzes etc etc. 

2# Plan

Plan, plan, plan. For anything, plan! How much to spend each day, what time to take the bus to class, which work to do first, everything. I love to plan and write it down. I usually plan my week and also my study schedule for final exams. I cannot function well if I don't have proper planning on what should I do that day, what should be done and what to revise that day. I'm super particular about it.

For example here, I write down weekly plan (week 7 of lecture) so I'll know what should I do and plan my time accordingly. Trust me this will be helpful because degree is no joke and you'll be screwed if you don't manage your time properly. 

I also plan my final exam study schedule so I can cover up everything before the paper.
'Sampai muntah' because I'm extra hahaha. I highlighted the day of the exam just in case I forget LOL  

3# Organize your notes
You'll have 5-8 (sometimes more) subjects per semester so it could be a struggle to keep in track all of your handouts and notes. My advise is to sort them by subjects. I know this is basic but I have friends who would dump everything in one file and ended up losing them. These notes might not matter much to you now but you will need them when final comes. Cuak okay kalau hilang notes during finals.




4# Do a checklist
Always make a checklist to make sure you don't miss out on anything. This is SO helpful during packing! You'll pack for degree, won't you? Since I am someone who's love to write and jot down every single thing, I love listing down too. I'm quite of a forgetful person so this helped me a lot.

This one mcm lebih kurang sama dengan yang weekly plan tu but this is a list of what to do that particular week. I leave this at my study table while the planner is for me to bring everywhere. 

Checklist for registration day (documents)

Checklist for registration day (Things/needs)

5# Print out/have a calendar 
I print out monthly calendar and pin it to the board at my hostel. Every hostel should have one cork board for each student. The calendar is useful as a more broad review of the month. I would write down everything I have that month, be it curricular activities, extra classes, tests, quizzes, submissions or even a day out with friends. I have thrown mine however here is a similar example of what I did.

Picture courtesy from Pinterest. 

6# Review academic plan

I do this every semester, sometimes a few times each semester just to look forward to what I will have the next semester. During semester breaks, I would review it again just to be mentally prepared for it and have an early target of how well (or not) you can do the next semester. Think of strategies to tackle killer subjects and look forward to your favourite subjects.



7# Have some fun
Last but not least, have fun while you're at it. Make friends, a little or a lot of them, it doesn't matter. Don't stress yourself out and don't push yourself too hard. You'll do great.

p/s: congratulations to those who got Bachelor in Science (Hons) Biology! Welcome aboard 😄