Say it with me: You don’t have to navigate your college courses alone.
Even though huge university classes can feel isolating, there are always resources to lean on. For example, your peers! Adopting a collaborative mindset and taking the time to bond with at least one classmate per class is a sure-fire way to boost your academic confidence. With many classes finally moving back in person, now is the ideal time to forge study buddy relationships. Take advantage of your fellow students’ reignited excitement for learning and try these four techniques for finding a productive study partner at UCLA:
- Become An Office Hours Regular:
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Attending your professor or TA’s office hours is an important study hack in its own right, but showing up to these opportunities is also a great way to meet classmates. The other students who drop by office hours are already demonstrating a desire to work on course material outside of class time. This means they’d most likely be down to bring questions and enthusiasm to a peer study group! If you make visiting office hours a part of your weekly routine, striking up a conversation with the other attendees will feel stress-free and organic. Simply ask them if they want to head to the library after office hours to try out the concepts the instructor discussed.
- Take Initiative on Groupme:
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Every college class I’ve ever taken has had a GroupMe for students to help each other stay on track. Step one to finding a study buddy is often asking around and looking on your course’s website for the link to the proper chat. Once you join a GroupMe, it can often seem daunting to type out a message for everyone to read and possibly ignore. Have no fear! To ensure that your study buddy request doesn’t get lost in the sea of messages just put some work in ahead of time to make the opportunity appealing. Either advertise that you’ve reserved a library study room and peers are welcome to join or share a scheduled Zoom link to make the study session ultra-practical.
- Attend Study Halls at the Student Activities Center:
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One of UCLA’s most underutilized academic resources are the nightly Study Halls at SAC. Starting at 8 p.m., these events offer group study space and access to a variety of peer counselors from the Community Programs Office. If you need help editing an essay or solving a tricky math problem, the support is all conveniently at your disposal. The organizers even provide safe, free transportation so you don’t have to travel alone after the event! If you’re unsure of how to reach out to a prospective study buddy, offering to meet at the SAC Study Halls is a great, low-stakes option. An alternative is to arrive by yourself and make friends with the dedicated community of welcoming SAC regulars.
- Try An Old-Fashioned Convo:
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Now that the vast majority of UCLA’s classes are in-person and on campus, it’s time to flex our rusty conversation skills. Don’t underestimate the power of simply asking your classroom neighbor, “Hey, are you also struggling with this concept? Would you be down to meet up and work through it together after class today?”. Even though imposter syndrome can make it feel like everyone around you knows what they are doing, chances are, your peers are just waiting for someone to bring up a study group. Strike up your initial conversation either with the early crowd before class or with any outgoing peers you notice participating a lot in discussion. Worst case scenario, they say that they’re busy. Best case scenario, you gain a new friend and asset for your academic success!
I hope that this list has inspired you to step out of your comfort zone and connect with a study buddy this quarter. So many of my college friendships started out with casual study sessions, and so many of my grades have benefited from bouncing ideas off of peers. There’s no prize for braving your academic career as a lone wolf — we’re all better off when we learn together.