blog by zahra

Midterm season has arrived!  Tis the season for caffeine-driven all-nighters filled with cramming equations, concepts, and definitions into our brains.  But is that really the smart way to take on exams?  Okay, so maybe cramming will get you through that one chemistry midterm…but will you remember it for the final?

From experience of NOT participating in unhealthy habits AND succeeding in my exams, here are a few tips to get you through the next few weeks:

1. Sleep continues to be essential!  Despite having too-much-to-do-and-not-enough-time-to-do-it, sleep deprivation is not going to help you perform your best on the exam.  I hear you – you need the time to cram!  Onto #2…
2. Inevitable cramming: So we didn’t keep on top of our pre-readings during the first month of school.  Now what?  Be efficient with your time.  Don’t log into Facebook or Twitter when you’re ‘taking a break’ from studying.  We all know it takes up more time than intended.  Yes, you’ll lose some sleep from studying, but you won’t lose as much as if you tended to your social life at the same time.
3. Don’t forget to eat healthy! Stress and a lack of time doesn’t help us to make the healthiest choices in the other domains of our life.  Firstly, don’t forget to eat regular meals, and eat them before everyone in the library knows your stomach’s growling.  Secondly, continue to make healthy food choices.  A nutritious meal is a great way to get your brain engines in top-notch condition for the exam.

It’s Clubs Week!  If you haven’t already, make sure you check out the various booths at the SUB – in the main concourse and the 2nd floor!  A part of attending UBC is finding your niche, and joining a club is a great way to do just that.  You’ll be able to meet new people and develop great networks.  From the tennis club to the business communication club to the pre-medical society, there has to be a club that attracts your attention!

Just for fun, I’ve scoped out a collection of clubs that I find the most odd:

• Anime club
• Coin and Stamp club
• Table Tennis club
• UBC loves Vaginas
• UBC Mafia club
• Wine tasting club

Don’t forget to get your Upass for next month!  Starting today, you can get October’s pass from UBC bookstore.  Not-so-surprisingly, there was no line up when I went to go get mine, but I’m sure the length of the queue will increase as the month draws to a close.  Be smart and pick up your Upass as soon as possible!

Hope your first few days at UBC were amazing!  Whether you’re a new student or a returning one, we all need to get accustomed to our new profs and learn about the different grading schemes.  I know I’ve had a fantastic week!

But now that all the profs are done lecturing us on the logistics of their courses, it’s time to get to the meat of the subject.  In the next 14 weeks, you’ll receive a boatload of information, whether it be about the brain, the current state of the oceans, or the way people think.  You’ll be expected to know all this and much more (i.e. a big chunk of the (most-likely) accompanying textbook).  How should we deal with it?

One of my high school teachers once suggested that if we reviewed our notes on a particular subject the same day we learnt about it, we would have a greater familiarity with the material come exam time.  After blundering through first term last year, I started employing this strategy in second term – it works!  Reviewing your notes doesn’t take very long, and the process allows you to tweak your notes (because we all miss some important points during lecture!)

What else works, you ask?  Jumble up your study routine.  From a psychological standpoint, studies have found that introducing obstacles or difficulties into our study routine improves retention of the information we are learning.  To do this, interleave the subjects for which you are doing pre-readings.  Don’t read all 5 sections of your biology textbook in one sitting.  Read a couple, then switch to reading your earth and ocean science notes.  Once again, I’ve done this and it works!

Also try studying in different environments.  Don’t always lock yourself up in your dorm.  Try finding a spot in the Irving Learning Centre one week.  Test out the seats at Koerner Library after that.  Or if you commute by bus/train, try reviewing your lecture notes on the go!  Psychological studies have found that students who are tested in the same room in which they learnt the course material do better on the exams than students who are tested at a different location.  However, the head of the chemistry department isn’t going to let me write my exam on the 2nd level of Koerner Library in the far corner because that’s where I’ve been studying the whole term.  By diversifying your study environment, the brain assimilates the material in a way which leads to greater recall when writing the exam for that course.

If you’re interested in reading more about psychology, memory, and study methods, leave me your email address and I’ll forward it to you! 🙂

Happy Studying!

Phew!  After 1 summer course, 2 family weddings, and a very spiritual month of Ramadhan, I’m ready to start year 2 at UBC.  Although this year will bring challenges (I have 11 courses and 2 labs in my schedule), I am looking forward to delving into the deep sea of knowledge!  However, my excitement is offset by the dread of commuting.  Commuting over 3 hours everyday by bus will definitely be testing.  But, of course, I’m not the only one!  To all of you who are going to be starting (or restarting!) to commute by bus/train, here are a few tips in order to be productive during your commute.

1. Study: Use your commute time to review yesterday’s lecture notes or to complete today’s pre-readings.  Don’t want to bring your heavy textbooks with you?  Make cue cards if you can  They’re light, portable, and serve as a great study tool in December!
2. Stay Up to Date: Almost every bus loop and train station has the 24-Hour and Metro newspapers available.  They’re free!  I personally like to occupy myself with the crossword and Sudoku puzzles, and comparing how accurate the news articles are between the 2 papers. 😛
3. Sleep: Although this sounds like an unproductive thing to do, it’s not!  Catching up on a bit of sleep on the bus helps you get in more study time in the evening at home.
4. People Watch: Entertain yourself!  This isn’t necessarily the most productive activity, but it’s good for days when sleep evades you, and you also don’t feel like studying.

My name is Zahra and I’m really excited to be a part of UBC Blog Squad!  I’d love to say more about myself, but it’s already all under the “About Me” page.  Visit it and the other pages to find out more about my blog and useful resources for life at UBC!  I look forward to hearing your comments and answering your questions!