Study guide to save your semester

I want to go a little bit nerdy this time. During my master program here, I find lots of difficulty in my study because I do not have the background in chemical engineering and have to keep up with the advanced chemical engineering subjects. However, it is too late to turn back time and I have to chew this one in able to survive and move on to professional career. Here in this post I would like to share to you some tips about studying that might help you along during your Erasmus year. But do not forget also to travel during this time instead of being too drown between your piles of documents. You can see from my blog that I also travel a lot no matter how hard the master is for me. 

Print the slides and study the references before class 

It is always good not to be empty when you enter the class. No matter how hard the chapter may seem, reading it before will make you become more friendly at least with the repeating terms mentioned. Therefore, when the teacher explain it in the class you can relate easier compared when you read nothing before he explains. Printing the slides will be nice when you study you can directly look on it without having separated disorganized notes. If it happens that you have a tab, it would be perfect so all the documents you have noted are well archived digitally without you printing it. It might be useful in your future courses that related to the old one so you do not need to dig in your old papers for that. 

Keep a good note on everything

This is my weakness because I tend to be messy in my notes and just restating what is already in the slides. Taking notes is really a skill that has to be taught and learn. No matter what you write in the class, to review and rewrite it with your own words as soon as you get back home. You will realize that you miss a lot of things in the class. Do not forget to compare your notes with your classmates to see what you are missing. I personally like also to draw some kind of mind mapping to summarize everything in the day. I have to admit in order to do this you have to stock a very big motivation in yourself. 

Record the class 

If it is possible and allowed, take the voice recording of the class. This will be important when you are trying to complete your notes after class. You will be able to notice things that 40% will be missed during your class especially when you have straight schedule from morning to the noon which means your focus level will decrease. This method helps me a lot during my study. 

Study in Group

I admit that studying with friends are a lot better than studying alone. This is proven through group work that I will remember better than individual work that I have done. Human has 7 types of intelligence, not only one. So before you state someone is smart or stupid remember to see these seven different aspects of them. In group work, you can really see which weakness and strength that you can combine with your friends to together nail well the semester.

List your questions and ask the teacher 

Whenever you have doubts write them all and discuss it with your friend or if not directly to the teachers. They will be happy to answer you and give you more references to read. 

Read, read and read 

My old biology teacher says that the best thing to do to connect your neurogical system is to read. Reading connects series of reasoning that can ligthen up your brain. So, whenever you have spare time, read more the references that is stated in the lecture or even beyond. Sometimes it can become more confusing, sometimes it can help. But reading more is never going to be a bad thing. 

Have a strong mentality and endurance

Failing is not the end of the world. However, when you have spent all your life nailing everyhting, it might be felt like real doomsday. Learn to forgive yourself for not being able to nail everything perfectly. Maybe when you fail, you will study more and understand better than people who pass once. My old drinking water system teacher said he has failed that course 6 times before being a lecturer in a prestigious university. So it means that your transcripts, grade and rankings do not really determine who you are and what your quality is. Based on my short work experience, we will learn everything from zero again. The most important thing is that you have this willingness to learn and improve, not only focusing in the result and pride. I am still indeed working to heal my old self and to embrace my journey. 

Do not take the lesson for granted

It does not mean that when you pass the exam you are done with it. I admit I took my whole academic life before master as granted. I do not learn it to the roots and did not realy try to understand it until the core. The consequence is, when I encounter the same problem in the future which is just a bit deeper, my fondation is so weak that I have to restart from the scretch again. This will not happen if I really understand things correctly in the past. 

Take a rest

Breath and have a pause to appreciate what you have learned and progressed on. In this case, you will have a time to relax and simply being grateful of the opportunity you have to understand things better and to simply have a proper education. Stop for awhile and notice the spinning world that never stops and seems so exhausting. If the load is too heavy, take time to have a pause, rest your eyes and brain and start again. This intermitten strategy will work better than studying for 8 hours until you forget to eat or shower. Then in this way you can rediscover yourself, your aim and the meaning of your study. Time management and planning is the key. The discipline to obey it, is even more important. 

Kudos on your study and I hope these tiny tips I have tried and experienced might help you to deal with your study.

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