Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
Blog 3 - Prepare, plan, perform
I've given this as a piece of advice before, but not as a full blog. Some students say to me 'I work better just before the deadline'. This line is absolute garbage, it's an excuse for poor planning, and those students invariably never perform as well as they think they did, and are the first to claim that they have not been given enough help from staff.
This is also true with preparing for examinations, cramming is the worst form of studying, and even if you somehow manage to pass an exam using this method it doesn't help with what we call deep learning. How often have you passed an exam and not been able to remember the information two weeks later, this is what is called shallow learning, or surface learning. Think of tying your shoelace, or riding a bike, these are things which you know forever, this is deep learning.
What the best students do, is sit down at the start of the term and come up with a plan for how they are going to succeed in the upcoming semester. Plot out your deadlines, be prepared to do things before they are due, and ensure that you know exactly what is expected of you before its too late.
Last year I gave my students 5 months to do a report, one student came to see me 4 days before the deadline and asked 'what do I have to do?' believe it or not this student did not pass, and was bemused that the work which they had cobbled together in three days, wasn't up to standard of a final year student.
There are some assessments, such as presentations, or in class tests, which cannot be moved, so this needs to be factored in to your planning. Usually you would be able to maneuver work around so that you are never working on more than 2 pieces of work at the same time.
Also you should realise that in the final year of a degree the word break, does not mean the same as the word holiday.
You have a Christmas break, and an Easter break, not a holiday. Just because you don't have classes doesn't mean you don't have work to do.
Below I have prepared the table of table that you can do very easily at the start of term and this will help you to ensure that you have the best possible chance to perform to your peak. Please look at it, and also realise that you are required to make sacrifice and show dedication, this is the investment that you are making in your career and your future.
