Hey Everyone!
Apologies for the delay in posting this. I’ve been rushing around like a crazy monkey for the past few days and now I’m back in the +65, Singapore, and well the sweltering heat. I forgot how humid Singapore is and hot and I’m sure it will take some getting used to. To be honest, I’m in a little bit of a denial about graduating even if it’s pretty much a significant bookmark to the next chapter of my life. Although I have to admit, University wasn’t too much fun in the beginning, I couldn’t have asked for better friends and an experience that was definitely unforgettable.
I’ll miss Melbourne. Especially now that it’s summer in Singapore, I could use the complaints of how cold it is right now, even the erratic weather. I’ll miss the trams, living in the city, the architecture and coffee. The food is remarkable and so are the people. I think getting the chance to live away from your parents for a while is a stepping stone to a greater you. You learn how to cook and clean and manage your time to not only study but also to get out there and create yourself. I’m really glad I got the chance to.
In my first year of college, I stayed at a dorm and not my own apartment. Truth be told, it was really different. College kids party hard and for me, I only learnt how to do that the next year. It was good though. I felt like I was being thrown into a whole new environment but seriously, it’s not as tough to make friends as we might think. I moved out of college to my own apartment the semester after and started cooking, cleaning and living alone.
Study Tips:
As for study tips, I think the best is to build a study guide throughout the semester. Study smart, and you won’t have to study ‘that” hard. That means giving studying a few hours of yourself a day and taking notes that are readable and act as a great guide to you when it comes to the final exam. That way all you have to do is compile the notes and memorize everything. That may not be the case for math based subjects (you’ll need to keep practicing those) but it is for more reading kind of subjects. You’ll find that for your math based exams, you can find a pattern of questions once you look at the past exams. Sometimes the way they ask a question will be exactly the same but with different quantities. If that applies, do as many practice exams as you can, you’ll soon find a pattern.
Keep a look-out for phrases from your professor like “this is really important to learn” and “this is tricky but really important” – those are keywords that mean that those areas will be on the final exam. Practice makes perfect. For more reading subjects, create that study guide yourself and test yourself. Cover answers with sticky notes and come up with memes to remember things. I remember having an art history exam once and to memorize the years, I pointed out elements of the artwork that looked like a number one or a number two. On the exam, it was so easy, the answer was right there. Create study groups with your friends. Those are really useful to bounce questions off each other, and it gives some quality and productive peer pressure to boot!
I think the biggest lesson I learned from college is to not close yourself up and study all the time. College is the best time to get to know people, understand yourself and how you work and explore the world. Once you start working 9 to 5, you won’t have much time on your hands at all not to mention being continuously tired. So enjoy yourself but remember to be responsible about your time. Don’t do anything too crazy too, you want to get back home in one piece right? :)
It has been an amazing three years in Melbourne. I got my degree- a Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Management at the University of Melbourne – and I’m a happy camper. To be honest, I’m a little scattered though. I think we all are. We say we got it covered after we graduate – maybe some of us have jobs lined up, or we have a general plan of what we do – but I’m sure that we all reminisce about our uni days and most of us are just taking it day by day a little confused. I think that we just need time to digest the fact that we are on our own. No more allowances from Dad, it’s time for the real world. I can’t say I’m totally ready but I know I will be.
To all the people who made Melbourne unforgettable, thank you! I look forward to going to make-up school in London in October (but more on that later ;) and to start my online store!