I think it’s safe to say that university can be a really difficult environment to get used to. Learning how to study in university-level education requires a new set of skills that we have to learn as students, right alongside your school subjects.
I grew up in the Japanese education system up until middle school and then attended a small private school in Canada (my regular class was between 5-14 people). My transition to private high school education in Canada was extremely positive because of the ability to maintain close relationships with my teachers and guidance counsellor. In a small classroom, it’s hard not to be seen.
Transitioning to university and adapting from a small community environment to an institution with hundreds of students in a classroom was extremely difficult for me. My biggest problem was that I didn’t feel seen and felt like I was just a number. Finally, in my third year of university, I got the hang of how to study in university. Coming from a student that received every grade letter of the book, here are tools that turned my grades from C’s and D’s to A’s and B’s.
Counselling
I can’t stress enough how important mental health is to succeed in class. In my first year, my toxic relationship and breakup ruined my motivation to do well in anything at all. It sounds awful, but I simply did not care about what happened to me and I couldn’t get myself out of bed to study.
Don’t blame yourself for how you feel, or how you perform academically! A letter grade or numbers don’t define your intelligence. For the longest time, while I was depressed, I was in denial that I needed help and felt like I deserved to experience pain in any form. When I finally accepted that I needed help, one of the best things that I chose for myself both mentally and academically was to attend counselling, like the services available here at Carleton. I’ve met many people that think counselling isn’t for me, and I thought the same way before I started counselling. But, as my mental health got better, it reflected on my grades. I think therapy is beneficial for everyone!
I recommend the FITA (From Intention to Action) program at Carleton University. It provides you with 12 weeks of one-hour sessions with your assigned counsellor and works towards your academic and mental health goals. It’s part of your tuition, so take advantage of it!
Volunteer note-taking
If you are a procrastinator like me and get easily distracted during lectures (especially with online learning), try taking the volunteer note-taking opportunity for your requested classes for students who need it.
This will give you small sets of responsibilities so that you will no longer feel like just a number. It might sound intimidating to have extra responsibilities, but you’re only doing what you were going to do in the first place: take notes.
There are several benefits of participating as a volunteer:
- You’re actually going to remember what you learned in class because you HAVE to actively listen.
- It helps other students.
- It’s good on your resume.
I recommend handwriting these notes on your notebook or your iPad so that you don’t get distracted by your devices. You will also pick up on important information rather than writing down words on PowerPoints and what the prof says verbatim.
Voice memos & Speechify
Our assigned readings are crucial when it comes to succeeding in assignments. Your professors are looking to see that you can understand and apply the things you learned from class and readings into the assignments.
I tend to zone out while reading and catch myself repeating the same sentences over and over. I voice-record my readings into my voice memo app since, as an auditory learner, I can understand my sentences better when I hear them out loud. Typically, separating these through sections or chapters is helpful for finding specific information you want to look for.
Another tool I use is Speechify. The Speechify library allows you to upload any PDF document or readings you have into the app and it will read it for you. It’s completely free, but a paid membership will allow you to change voices, accents, and the speed of reading.
noise-cancelling
Beethoven slaps when studying! I live with quite a few roommates, and if you live on campus, there’s a whole lot of distraction with noise since you are around so many students. To avoid these distractions, I find that listening to classical music while studying helps me concentrate. However, one study found that studying in complete silence can be more beneficial than listening to music. To avoid noise at all, listen to white noise or use noise-cancelling headphones if you have a set.
career counselling
It’s never too late to change what you want to do in the future. Career counsellors at Carleton University are there to help you narrow down some options that you might actually enjoy studying if you don’t already. In advanced education, it’s important that you have some passion for what you are studying. As soon as I finished my first year, I knew that the program I was in wasn’t for me but had no clue what direction I wanted to go in. Thankfully, the career counselling resource was easy to access and they showed me some areas where I could embrace my creativity. As I switched my program, my grades immediately improved.
Attending university is expensive and difficult, and it can overall be an exhausting process –– but it doesn’t always have to be. There are different services like the FITA program or career counselling that can support your journey throughout your education. Take advantage of what university offers you and make the best out of it. If you are anxious because you just can’t figure out how to study, coming from a student who had to transition from so many different environments and struggled to do this, I promise you will find your way of perfecting your skills!