University advice to my 18 year old-self!

Hi everyone!!

Today's post is about becoming prepared for university, or What would I say to my 18 year old-self regarding university? This was a question asked by Deborah-Jane, whose daughter is going to university next year. I know I haven't been writing about studenthood much lately, so I'm glad to be writing this post to help people thinking of going to university!

What would I say to my 18 year old-self regarding university?

Before I went to uni, I really wanted to know what it was like, because no-one in my family had ever gone before, so I knew nothing about it. I wanted to find some young-peoples' fiction about it, to see what the day-to-day experience was like, but I never did. So this is what I would say to myself now:
 
    University isn't like school, it's actually a whole way-of-life. Mostly so if you live away from home, especially in halls; if you live at home, it might feel different. When you live in Halls (which the majority of 1st Years do), you are surrounded by students; you may travel to campus everyday on a bus surrounded by students; you spend all day in lectures and the library surrounded by students; and, if you live in catered halls, you eat in the canteen with students. It's very different to being at home and school, but in a good way, and it's easy to transition into this new environment, if you go with the flow!

    You do need to do a lot of work, definitely more than at school! Think of your course as a full-time job, around 40 hours of work per week. You will be expected to read a lot, and learn a lot of information. Expect to have weekly work, including set books or articles to read, perhaps a little test or two, and at least one essay for each module per term. Also, there will be the big exams at the end of term- make sure you write revision notes regularly (after each lecture would be ideal), so that you don't have to catch-up all subjects at once!

University is about independent work- you are set work in your lectures, seminars and tutorials, with instructions, and a bit of extra guidance if you ask your tutor, but otherwise you are expected to do the work mostly yourself. You can work with your classmates, but remember that you are at uni for your own education, so make sure you put the work in yourself! Don't let your classmates do all the work for you! And importantly, assessed work, especially essays etc, are supposed to be independent- if your teachers suspect you have been working with someone else on your work, UNLESS it is a joint or team project, then you will be in big trouble!

I used to worry about silly little things, like how people would think about me, what I should dress like, will they judge me by my appearance?

No-one cares about what you look like. Or, at least in my experience, they don't! University is much more grown-up than school, and people tend not to judge you so much by what you look like. Not to mention, people tend to think of uni as a place where you can be yourself- no rules about what you can or can't wear, or do your hair or make-up like at school- if you want green hair and nose-studs, feel free!! If you want to wear no make-up today, then people won't care, because they judge you by your actions and your personality instead!

Being the first person in my family to go to uni, I had no-one to give me specific advice about university- which is one of the reasons why I write this blog, so that I can give advice to new students! Now I have lots of info to share to others. And one major thing I should tell you about uni is: it's not that scary!!

It's a big responsibility, and it's not a walk in the park- but it's all manageable! It takes a lot of time, energy, and requires a lot of motivation. You might not get a lot of sleep some nights, and have to neglect your social life, but it is all worth it! It's such a satisfying experience, and it's fun; you get to meet so many amazing people, it feels like such an achievement, and you are doing something for yourself, to help your future, which is so satisfying!! If you feel like you are struggling, there will be a great support network at your uni, so use them. Make friends, have fun, don't drink too much, work hard, play hard, and do well! You will only do your degree once (hopefully!), so make the most of it!

I've written about a few of the pieces of advice I wish I could have told my 18 year old-self- but there are many more things I could talk about! 

Do you have any questions? Write them in the comments below!

And it all starts again...

Hi everyone!
I haven't posted in ages! I've had 3 essays plus other work to do in the past few weeks, so I've been really busy, and then this week, after I handed my last essay in on Monday, I couldn't seem to do anything substantial. My brain just wanted a rest!!

But now my brain is getting into action again, because term starts tomorrow. I don't have any lectures until Tuesday, but I've just found out I have some homework due in on Tuesday (they don't tell you these things, you have to find them out for yourselves!), so I'm going to spend tonight and tomorrow getting ORGANISED!!

Of course, I have my beautiful Filofaxes to keep me organised... although I feel I need to keep adjusting the way I use them to improve myself, but that's a whole other story! I'm sure I'll write more about that in the coming weeks!
Any way, today I have done some housework and dissertation stuff (although not much!), and now I am doing my Sunday night filofax-preview. Well, unfortunately I don't do it that regularly... I don't think I've done it for a few months! Sunday night is the most logical time to do it because it prepares you for the week ahead... but unfortunately Sunday nights were my most busy last term! But in this coming term, I don't have any lectures on Mondays, so hopefully I won't have much work to do on Sundays, so I can do my Filofax-previews again!! I'll do a post on my previewing soon!

This is my second term of my MA, and the last term when I have lectures :S  My last lecture is on my birthday!! and I don't know whether to commiserate or celebrate afterwards! I think I will miss my lectures after they finish... Then in the summer I will have no lectures, but occasional dissertation meetings, because my whole summer will be dedicated to writing my dissertation! So wish me luck with that!

Anyway, I hope I'll get back to regular blogging soon! Hope you all have a lovely week!

Organisation of research projects

I strive for organisation. I don't always achieve it, but I always want it, because it makes life SO much easier! As you can tell, I do this a LOT in the way I plan my daily life- Filofaxes etc- but I also try to do it in my academic life. The major thing for me is organising research projects.

I have to do a lot of research projects, but until recently I hadn't formulated a logical structure for organising them. I had tried to do this a while ago, but this past week I've managed to perfect it! I'm so happy with myself! I have to say, the inspiration came from the method of organisation you use for filofaxes- dividers, with a place for everything, and everything in its place!
First came the realisation of how to organise my folder, then I put my mind to the actual process I should use to be organised in doing the actual research itself.

I have to say, before you start reading, this set-up is relevant for my course, Egyptology, and other evidence-based subjects, e.g. history etc (among others, although I can't think of any more specific ones). This may not work for you if you do a very different course which isn't evidence-based; but you may find some interesting tips in it anyway!

So first, I will explain the lay-out of my research folder, and then the process of researching for different types of research projects.

• Divider 1 is 'Organisation'- the space for to-dos, list of questions to ask, etc. Subsection 1.2:
• Divider 1.2 is 'Instructions, methods'- where I write instructions for my assignment, methods and techniques to use in it.
• Divider 2 is 'Evidence- Dataset/Catalogue'- The most important section- where I will accumulate the evidence I will be using in my research assignment. I will explain why this is so important later. Subsections 2.1 and 2.2:
• Divider 2.1 is 'Analysis of Evidence'- where I write notes on my analysis of the evidence behind divider 2 
• Divider 2.2 is 'Interpretation of Evidence/Importance of Evidence'- After I have analysed the evidence, I will write up my interpretations of it here
• Divider 3 is 'Research'- Where all my notes I make from my research go. Behind the main tab I have lists of books/articles to look at, keywords to search for in the Egyptology publications databases. Subsections 3.1 and 3.2:
• Divider 3.1 is 'Basic/Background Research'
• Divider 3.2 is 'Specific Research'. I will explain the distinction between these 2 in a minute
• Divider 4 is 'Discussion points/Arguments'- I don't know if this is the proper term, but I mean the main topics I will be discussing in my essay; and the notes/evidence I will use to demonstrate/argue these points
• Divider 5 is 'Plan'- for my essay plan, where everything comes together in an organised and structured way, before it gets written up into my drafts!

Each section has its own divider (cheap ones from Tesco, but pretty colours!), while each subsection is a divider, but I have cut the side-tab off and taped it to the top of the divider to create a top-tab! For quick access within the main section.

So, this folder is how I keep all my notes etc organised which I produce when carrying out the research procedures below. This is the essence to my whole system of organisation: the folder is important for keeping your papers organised in the specific sections, but you have to follow these procedures to be organised in your research to start with.

Different types of assignments require different procedures. The two types of research projects in Egyptology, and in other subjects, are as follows:

Question-based papers

Evidence-based papers

The distinction is as follows: in an evidence-based paper (whether this is an essay set for a student to do, or an article written by an academic), you start off with a specific piece of evidence or group of evidence (dataset) which you analyse and interpret, and it is this evidence which leads on to questions you can address in your research and your discussion. In a question-based paper, you start off with a question (or issue, or statement), and this question itself leads you to the topics you will address in your research and essay. That really is the difference: fundamentally, is your assignment based on a piece of evidence or not? Take these examples: (I'll give examples relating to the subject of History, because more people understand this than Egyptology!)

Did the policy of appeasement cause World War Two, or was the war inevitable?

To what extent did Chamberlain's 'Anglo-German Agreement' cause World War Two?

The distinction between these two questions is on the surface quite slight: both are about the same subject (appeasement), but the first is a question-based assignment- the question leads you to keywords and issues and ideas which you can use to find books, to research the subject, to write your assignment; but the second is an evidence-based assignment- it uses the 'Anglo-German Agreement', the piece of paper which Hitler signed, agreeing to not start a war, as the start of the whole research project, and then you answer the question based on your analysis of this major piece of everything. An evidence-based assignment starts off with evidence, while a question-based assignment finds it along the way. 

Why do you need to know which category your paper falls into? Because the different types of assignemtn uses different procedures. This are the best procedures I have developed for each type of assignment:

Evidence-based assignment:

• Write down the instructions of your assignment, and make sure you understand them (Divider 1.2)
• Collect (print out/photocopy) and file your evidence/dataset (Divider 2)
• Review the evidence/dataset, so you know what sort of topics, issues you will be addressing, keywords to look up etc-->
• Using keywords etc, make a starter bibliography (using whatever bibliographic database/catalogue is relevant for your course). (Divider 3)
• Do basic/background research on the general subject and the piece of evidence/dataset in general using these books you have identified in your bibliography. (Divider 3.1). (This is different from specific research- basic/background research is to give you knowledge about the subject in general, so you know enough about the subject to interpret the evidence, and understand the arguments of scholars who have written about this subject).
• Analyse your evidence/dataset (Divider 2.1)
• and interpret it (Divider 2.2)
• Use the background knowledge you have gained, and your interpretation of your piece of evidence/dataset, to develop the main discussion points/arguments you want to discuss in your paper. My lecturer says that an assignment between 2000 and 5000 words should only have 3 discussion points- she wants depth of argument and quality, not quantity (too many issues covered) that doesn't discuss them in enough depth or quantity. (Divider 4)
• Then, do specific research on the piece of evidence/dataset, and your discussion points- specific research is what goes into your paper, whereas basic research just fills in the gaps in your brain! (Divider 3.2)
• Write this into your plan (Divider 5)
• And develop your arguments, by doing more research, and keep writing this up into your plan, and round and round again!

Question based-assignment:

This is somewhat easier because this is what undergraduate students are used to doing.

• Write down the question (and instructions) and make sure you understand it/them (Divider 1.2)
• Once you understand what your question is asking of you (you know keywords etc), use keywords to make your starter bibliography (using a database etc) (Divider 3)
• Do basic/background research on the general subject from the books/articles in your starter bibliography (Divider 3.1)
• Summarise the main themes/issues you have learned from your basic research
• Start making your evidence/sources database (evidence you find along the way, that is important for answering your essay question- this is continuous, do it every time you find a piece of relevant evidence, whether in your basic or specific research) (Divider 2)
• Then analyse and interpret this evidence, towards answering your question (Dividers 2.1 and 2.2)
• Using your basic research, your summaries of the main themes/issues, and the patterns/interesting features you have found during your analysis/interpretation of the evidence/sources you have found, make the (3) discussion points/arguments you want to make in your essay (Divider 4)
• Do specific research on your discussion points etc (Divider 3.2)
• Write into your plan
• Develop your discussion points etc

I hope all this makes sense! If you have any questions or want me to clarify anything, just ask me in the comments!

Have a great weekend :)

September-October update

I have realised a few things recently, with this new chapter of my life starting. Here's a summary of my thoughts and ideas recently

I'm really enjoying my course (MA Egyptology); actually I'm LOVING it :) I just love being busy! I love having a whole load of things to do, as long as I can stay on top of them! My amazona is really helping me do that! Well, really, it isn't my actual amazona binder, it's the way I've set it up, and I'll be doing a post on this soon. The main thing that helps is making sure I write down all of my work and deadlines, and forward planning when I should work on them. I know, I know, this is such an obvious thing to do to stay organised, but it's something that I didn't do last year and therefore is REALLY making a difference for me now!

But... I really have to make some other improvements in my life, especially in staying organised in other areas of my life, and keeping my priorities in mind.
After a visit to the bank, I realise I REALLY need to stay organised financially. I'm the sort of person who will live quite happily in denial, and that really isn't good when it's something as important as money. I spent an hour writing a list of rules and other important things in my filofax to try to keep me on the straight and narrow financially. But besides sticking to these rules and my budget, the thing I really need to do is change my psychology; change my 'Mrs I Want' side of my brain, i.e. not buy things as soon as I decide I want them, regardless of whether I need them or not, or can afford them or not. It's going to be a struggle, but if it works, it's going to be a good life lesson!
Sorting out my life priorities is another thing I need to change my psychology for. Like I have 'Mrs I Want' in my brain, I have 'Mrs I Can't Wait' too, so that when I want to do something, e.g. watch a TV programme, I'll do it now instead of working out when I have some free time to do it, or waiting until I have finished my work. So on a bad day, my desire for fun far outweighs my need to do work. On one of these typical bad days (they happen once, maybe twice a week), I will lay in bed, with my laptop on my knees, watching TV while simultaneously reading blogs and surfing the web. Not a bad thing to do occasionally, you might think, especially when I tend to work through weekends without a proper break. But on those days, I don't do ANY work, although I know I should, and it's negative on my health too. I lay in my bed, usually in a position that hurts my neck a lot after a few hours; and I'm so lazy that I won't get out of bed to get a drink until I'm REALLY dehydrated and desperately in need of water (I don't drink enough as it is). I know I need to change this. I recently bought a jug, so that solves the water problem, as I can keep refilling my glass. But my main problem is that whole day I waste in bed. Last year I never scheduled any days off, like normal people have weekends; so much so that I found my brain just crashed like an overworked computer. I really do need time off this year, but the thing is, I need to schedule it to a time when it won't impinge on my work. This is the thing I need to make sure I do each week. I need that day off per week for relaxation, and as something to look forward to during the week. And as a cure for Mrs I Want, I'm going to write a list of TV programmes I want to watch on that day off, so it's a day I can really look forward to.
I have also realised another priority recently; my own health and well-being. I know realise that, during this extremely stressful year, I won't be able to do my best if I don't stay healthy. As I said, I never drink enough, so I'm usually dehydrated (but don't realise it). I also lack vitamins most of the time because I don't have a great variety in my diet. I lack sleep sometimes, but even on days when I have had my 8 hours, I'm still tired because I just always on the go. And an inherent thing in my brain, I am often stressed, although I don't realise it until the physical symptoms are showing (twitching eyelid or lips, heart palpitations, severely painful headache (although thankfully only lasts about 5 seconds at a time), and at my worst, really aching legs and aching kidneys, plus the headache). I'm sure a lot of you, especially Caribbean Princess if she's reading, will tell me off for letting myself get this unhealthy. But I will try to change this! I promise to drink more water, take vitamin tablets, sleep more and do yoga or something!
And, overall, I promise to keep my priorities in order and at the front of my mind. Uni work first, then health and well-being, then fun, although they could overlap. Obviously, I can stop my uni work to go and make a sandwich and refill my jug. My I just can't watch TV instead of doing my uni work when it's not in my free time, because uni work comes first.

I am going to try to implement these changes in my personal Filofax, which, as soon as I am happy with the set up, I will blog about :)

Hope you are all having a fun weekend!!

Home is where the Filo is...

I have been taking my gorgeous A5 Amazona to university every day since I received it, and I am worried it is starting to show some signs of wear. It's just not designed to go inside my big, full back pack! Thankfully I have my red A5 Domino that will serve as my on-campus university planner while Amazona stays at home :) Now I just have to decide which inserts I should duplicate, and which ones I will transfer over each day...

All Stars Blog Tour: Guest Post by Angela!!

Hi everyone!
Sorry for my lack of posts lately! Unfortunately I don't have wifi in my new house yet, so I can only post when I'm in the library. Thankfully, Angela from Paper Love Story has a great guest post for you to read about her experiences using both Filofaxes and a Moleskine diary at university. If you haven't seen her gorgeous collection of personal sized Finchley filofaxes, please visit her blog!


Going into my third year of university, you’d have thought I’d have my planner problems sorted by now… but I don’t. For my first year, and for the first two terms of my second year too as it turns out, I used a Filofax. I started with a Raspberry Finsbury, changed to a Vintage Rose Finchley, changed once more to a Jade Green Finchley and then reverted back to a Vintage Rose Finchley for the second term of my second year. Further changes ensued when I got a Moleskine on the cheap in March and so commenced its use for the third and final term of my second and penultimate year.

Did this switch cause my productivity to increase? Far from it, it seems. My best exam marks were when I had used the various Filofaxes! Why was this? Well, one of these reasons may be the fact that the Moleskine layout was a day per page whereas my Filofax diary layouts had always been the ‘Week on Two Pages’ (in cotton cream of course). This extra space meant I scheduled more things to do on a daily basis – whereas the Filofax layout forced me to limit any activities I wanted to plan that were not related to study.

This is how a week looked with the Filofax inserts:

You can see that it’s pretty crammed with writing. I write in when my lectures are, and what lecture number they are too just to make sure I bring the right set of lecture notes with me. Television show episodes that need watching (the day after airing in America usually) are written in with colour to add a bit of spice to what would be a boring looking week. Sometimes, I also plan my outfits in advance – this may seem strange to some as students are commonly regarded as hoody and jeans wearing youths; but living in London has caused me to dress as a bit smarter than I may have otherwise done. Not to mention the fact that London is a fashion capital of the UK too (controversial, maybe but I have to stick up for the city that I so love – but is also flawed in many respects, i.e. public transport!).

Here is a page of my to-do list from February 2011. Long term, short term and urgent (immediate) things are filed into those categories so that more important tasks are done first. I’ve lost this system of organisation since I got my Moleskine though and as a result, my time management and life admin productivity has also gone down. Knowing this now though, I can use Amanda's time management post to good use to try and incorporate my previous system with the use of some of her tips too.

In comparison, here is how a day looked in my Moleskine.

See the bareness? This bareness leads me to schedule things in that I wouldn’t have done previously with my Filo and this lead to me leaving barely any time for study in the summer term! I ended up messing around a lot with socials and other stuff.

Again, lectures and lecture numbers are written in, as are things such as ‘what I wore’ and vitamins I need to take, etc. Writing in what I wore that day helps with my decision about what my wardrobe is missing (nothing it seems) and what I don’t wear (a lot). This enables me to decide what to sell on eBay and what to keep.


I can’t seem to find a page where I have written in coursework stuff – maybe it didn’t exist in my Moleskine. It does in my Filo though but unfortunately, I’ve filed away the pages already so I can’t show you. As mentioned in a previous post of mine, I did use notecards to help me organise coursework.

Overall, I had more success with my Filo(s) than I did with my Moleskine. But, this is due in part to the layouts of the two, rather than the fault of the brands themselves. Also, the Moleskine is a boring black colour whereas my Filofaxes are of interesting and lovely colours – not that I’m relating design of a planner to productivity… Ok, maybe I am but just a little!

Conclusion

A day per page Moleskine (the large size too!) is probably not the best for a student wanting to increase productivity – a week per page with the opposite page for memos and notes is probably better.

http://www.mojolondon.co.uk/a/i/products/800/moleskine_soft_cover-18month.jpg

The ‘Week on Two Pages’ layout for the Filofax works fine – there is enough space to write when lectures are, when tutorials are, etc. Obviously, this is providing your lecture venues don’t change as mine didn’t and were always in the same place for the first two years. Next year though, my lecture venues may be different for successive lectures so we’ll see if I’m still saying the same thing in December (at the end of my first term).


If you are still to decide on what diary to use for 2012 or if you're itching to change, my only advice is to seriously consider what you want out of your diary. I initially thought a large space to write daily tasks and other stuff would be great - turns out, it was not so great for my studies! If you, like me, think bigger is better for diaries, then I'd urge you to honestly ask yourself, 'Do I really need all this space?' - something I really regret not doing, myself! But, as they say, you learn from your mistakes and I've certainly learnt from this one - that day per page large Moleskines aren't for me.

Reader question: How to organise/write a dissertation

Hi!

Recently EmmerLouise asked me to write a post on how to organise or write a dissertation/thesis. This is an important issue for students who are about to start their last year in university, and are facing this scary time.
    This post is going to be a list of tips which should help you organise yourself in writing your dissertation. I am not going to tell you how to actually write your dissertation, because each university, course and dissertation question will need a different way, which I can't summarise here. However, I think my tips should cover every type of dissertation, whether arts/sciences/humanities, undergraduate or postgraduate level, polytechnic or Oxbridge. This is because these are fundamental tips ALL students should use. Even if you're in last year of uni, it's best you learn them now, rather than after it was too late like I did. No-one told me these things and I had to learn them for myself. So please print this list out and think about how to use these tips to help you in your dissertation/thesis writing.
    I have to be honest, I didn't do very well in my dissertation. This is because I didn't follow the tips I am about to give you. Over the summer holiday, I've realised what I should have done to make my organisation better, and this is what I have listed here. I will be implementing these rules/tips when I am writing my MA dissertation over the next 12 months.
    I really hope these help you! If you think of any more, please write them in the comments, and I will add them to the list!
In no particular order:

1. Start early! If you can, do some preliminary research during the preceding summer, or start early in the first term. Time goes quickly and soon you will have lots of other work to do, so get as much done as early as possible.
2. Use the research and writing skills you have learnt throughout your course. 
3. Make sure you have regular contact (meetings) with your dissertation supervisor.
4. Make sure your dissertation/thesis question is one you can understand. I didn't, and it screwed me up for the whole research and writing. You can always change it early (ask your supervisor), but always make sure you understand it.
5. There will be some specific things you have to do to format your dissertation- for example, a particular way to format the bibliography and pictures, specific chapters you need to write etc. Make sure you know about these early because doing them as you go along will save you a LOT of time just before you hand your dissertation in. 
6. Make scheduled time to do your dissertation research every week. Once you have lots of other work to do in other modules, it's easily forgotten. 
7. Write a diary listing what progress you have made so you can tell your supervisor when he asks at meetings. 
8. Do your bibliography etc as you go along. This is the easiest way to make sure you haven't forgotten to list a specific book, and means you don't have to rush doing it at the end. Not doing this is what has made me late on so many essays!
9. Very important: Keep your stuff organised, whether it's on your computer or on paper, or both. I had a folder full of articles. I decided not to staple the pages of individual articles together, because I thought I may need to lay the pages of the article across my desk to cross reference things, which I couldn't do if they were stapled. Because of this, when I put my articles together in a pile on my bed, and kept on flicking through them to find a particular page, everything got very mixed up and I had to spend my precious time sorting them all out again. Whether it's a folder full of articles like mine, or your own notes, or computer documents and folders, make sure you are organised. This is essential and invaluable!
10. If you need books etc that may be popular and out of the library for a long time when you need them, make sure you request them (ask the librarian to recall them from the user) early so you can have access to them before it's too late. This is especially important when you need a book that your library doesn't have. You can use a system called Interlibrary Loan, where your library requests the book you need from another library, sometimes for a small fee. This can take a few days to a few weeks. When I was trying to order the massive list of books I needed that weren't available in my library, it was that April time when there were LOADS of bank holidays! So my books either came late or not at all! Always be careful of this!
11. Set yourself deadlines. Your university may set you draft deadlines, but setting your own deadlines might keep your progress on track a bit more.
12. Back your work up all the time! It would be a nightmare if you lost the only copy of your work (trust me, this has happened to me once!). Email it to yourself, buy a memory stick, back it up on the university central system. Print hard copies and put them somewhere safe.
13. Ask you friends to read it through to see if it makes sense. Tell them to give you constructive criticism.
14. Finish as early as possible, preferably about a week before the deadline- you need to check references etc, possibly change things etc. The most important reason you need to do this is that you need to get your dissertation printed and bound. It is chaotic trying to do this at the last minute- hundreds of other students are trying to do this at the same time as you! 

Good luck everyone!!

   

First-time students: tips for preparing for university/college

Hi!

Now that the new university year is fast approaching (approx. 1 month away) I thought I would do a post about how to prepare for university for new students.
It is a daunting task, especially if you have no elder family members/friends who have already been there/done that, like I didn't when I was just about to start my undergraduate degree. But don't worry, it's not that scary!

Hopefully by now you have got somewhere to live, whether it is in a university- or privately-run halls of residence, or a private rented place. If you haven't, get this sorted ASAP!! This is the most important thing to sort out after actually applying to university.

Getting information from your university and/or department about anything you need to do to prepare for your course is important. This is usually delivered by email or some booklets etc. If you haven't received this yet, don't worry, a lot of departments won't send them out until September. But if you are getting worried, give your department a ring or an email. Usually, what they will tell you is any equipment you need for your course (e.g. lab coat), a reading list, meetings etc you will have to go to during Freshers' Week, maybe a timetable, and if you are unlucky, perhaps some homework you have to do before you get there!

Now the thing I was most worried about: Packing. And be sure, you WILL over pack!! I took at least twice as much as I needed! Remember, you will be able to get a lot of the stuff you need when you are there! For example, I packed way too much stationary and toiletries, many of which I didn't even use. I also overpacked on clothes. You have to take into account how you are going to get all of this stuff to your university; my poor dad had to drive me in our small car, with all my stuff literally bulging at the seams! This is especially important to think about if you are travelling to your uni from abroad, or just a long distance, for example across the US. If you are taking an aeroplane, or even some sort of ferry etc, there is often a luggage allowance that won't meet all the stuff you want to take to uni. Here are my tricks to limiting the amount of stuff you take to uni:

• Ask friends/family who have already been students what they really NEEDED at uni.
• Do a practice pack- try to fit everything in your suitcase or car. If it doesn't fit, something needs to go.
• Write a list of everything you need to pack. Come back to it a couple of days later, and look at it with a critical eye, crossing off anything that doesn't meet the qualifications of something you NEED. Do you really NEED that second hairbrush? Or that milk pan? How many pairs of fluffy winter slippers will you really wear? Will you really use a whole dining set?
• For common things you use, like toilettries, make an 'I actually use...' list. This is where every time you actually use things, you write those things on the list. You will be surprised, by the end of the week, how few things you actually use off the big list you made earlier of everything you wanted to pack. This is because it is the human condition to pack things 'just in case'. Well, chances are, those 'cases' never happen.
• But, that said, there are some situations where you will NEED some things. Think especially about medical situations. Even if you don't have a condition, everyone needs access to medication quickly in some situations. For example, say you wake up with food poisoning. The last thing you want to do when you have diarrhoea is to have to walk down to the pharmacy, so always make sure you have such medication available in your room at uni. Go to the pharmacy with your parents before you go to uni to get them to help you buy your emergency medicine bag for all such situations.
• Remember: you can buy the majority of things you will want/need when you get there. For example, stationary. I packed enough to last me for my whole degree, let alone year 1. The thought didn't occur to me that I could actually buy all that stuff there!
• If you really can't take a lot of things with you travelling to uni, draw up a list of things you will actually NEED in the immediate 24 hours when you arrive. Toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, bedding (or even just a sleeping bag), money, phone etc. Then, the things you definitely don't want to buy again: laptop etc. 
• Consider alternatives to transporting stuff. Ask your parents to do a second trip later in the term to bring the 2nd lot of stuff. Use vacuum bags to suck the air out of things like your duvet and pillows to dramatically decrease the amount of room this takes up in your packing. Use a cheap courier service to deliver a box of books etc that you can't manage in your suitcase (I have done this a couple of time, it's very useful).

And most importantly, don't worry! Uni is so much fun, look forward to it!!

If you have any questions, please comment and I will try to answer them!

The Perpetual Student BA Hons. :D

Hiya!!

I just graduated!!! On Wednesday, we all got dressed up in our robes and mortar boards and walked across the stage and became official graduates!!

The gown was uncomfortable and the hat is the silliest thing I've ever seen! But it was really fun!
I was worried I would fall up the stairs onto the stage or trip over, but I didn't! Unfortunately my dad couldn't come because he had to stay home to look after my brother who has tonsillitis :(

It's a momentous occasion, I am the first person in my dad's family ever to go to university, and now I can't believe I've actually graduated! The last 3 years has gone so quickly!
It was great seeing my friends again, who I haven't seen in 6 weeks, and some of whom I won't be seeing again :( I hope they'll come back and visit! It's strange, because I've moved house so many times, it's usually me who's leaving, but this time I'm staying for MA and they're leaving! But it's the natural progression of their lives and I wish them the best in their futures :)

For anyone who is currently a student or is about to start a course, enjoy every minute of it! It goes by SO fast and you are always busy with assignments and exams, so make sure you make the most of it!
If anyone has any questions about university and studenthood, send me a message, my email is on my profile :)

Filofax for students

Hello!

This Tuesday, Katie asked a question on Philofaxy's Free For All Tuesday asking if anybody was using their filofax to get organised for university, and for any tips.
TPS to the rescue!!

This is an excellent question because this is just the sort of job Filofaxes are designed for! I think the advantages of using filofaxes for this function might be overlooked slightly on the internet, because blogs dedicated to filofaxes are written by (ahhem cough cough) slightly more mature people ;b And I mean that in the nicest possible way, they are people with real lives, jobs, families etc!!
This blog post is about being organised at university. If anyone wants me to write a post on using your filofax to get you organised for PLANNING to go to university in the future, or just how to prepare for uni generally (not necessarily with a filofax) please ask in the comments!
Now I am going to discuss how you could use your Filofax for organising your life while at university!

First up, the diary.
For people who have already used their filofax for a while, or even another kind of diary, they may already have a diary format that works for them and know how to use it properly for their lives. However, being a student (in comparison to being at school, or on your gap year etc) introduces a LOT more that needs writing into your diary on a daily basis. So read on, you may learn something new or get some new ideas, even if you don't change your actual diary that much.
Which type of diary you use is completely up to you. However, I think a version that gives you ample room is essential. You will probably need to write quite a lot into your diary on certain days. (Some of these things are applicable to non-students too).
For example:

• Appointments- lectures etc; meetings and appointments; shifts if you work a job; social appointments etc
• Whole day things- deadlines, goals for that day (for example, "[today I will] FINISH ESSAY"; birthdays, anniversaries etc
• Recorded things- journal entries; log-book; recording the weather etc; food eaten and amount of water drunk (I tend to get de-hydrated); money spent (esp. good if you're on a budget) etc
• To-dos
• Notes on above things- e.g. clarification on to-dos; information on location of lectures, homework due for them etc

(I've probably forgotten some things, but they will come to you gradually as the need arises when you are actually at uni, and you can add them to your diary then).

As you can see, this list is quite long. And when you have a couple of entries of each on a page, even a page-per-day diary, it can get quite hectic on the page, especially if all this is written in 1 colour! A really good way to deal with this is colour-coding (e.g. Jordan). Assign a colour ink to a specific thing in your diary, so that you know at a glance what you are looking at/for. A really good type of pen for this is the 4-colour pen, I like Bic 4 colour-pens, as they have the normal black-blue-green-red and the lovely fashion colours, pink-purple-light blue-light green. These type of pens are really handy because sometimes when you need to colour-code you don't have access to your pencil-case. However, these are very thick pens and don't fit in many of the pen holders in filofaxes as they tend to be slim, but soon I'll do a post on alternative ways to fix your pen inside your filofax.

So, with all this to write in your diary, you may need quite a large space to write in your diary. I prefer the day-per-page format, which nearly always has enough space for my day's writing. I love the appointments view on this, as I need to be able to see my day in chronological order and the gaps in between appointments to see how long I can spend in the library. If I need any more space for notes, I write them on a post-it and stick in on the page, or for a long list I write it on a piece of notepaper. However, some people prefer to see their whole week at a glance (WO2P)- this has less space to write stuff, though.

I also have month on 2 pages diary. I use this for deadlines etc. I put DL for a deadline, EX for an exam etc. This is especially important to know how many days you have got before a deadline or exam, how many days you have left to research, write or revise because day-per-page and WO2P obscure this. This has really helped me to get organised in my uni work.

Sections

This part is completely up to the individual. You may want a separate section, with dividers, for each part, or just a few sheets together for each not in a separate section. I have only used filofax since March, and I am still working out my system. You may already have a system of your own, but these are just a few things to think about when going to university.

- Finances

You could write down your student loan instalment dates (and then you could write them into your diary), customer number/username and password for the Student Loans Company, also phone numbers if you ever need to call them. Make lists of direct debits/standing orders- rent, bills etc. Your budget (a good idea to stick to as a poor student!), and your income/outgoings on the filofax finance pages. On a piece of notepaper, make a list of IOUs: who owes you how much, when, and for what. Of course, DON'T write down your credit/debit card pin in your filofax, just in case it falls into the wrong hands!

- Addresses

Obviously, family, friends etc, just in case your phone stops working. For emergencies, put an emergency contact/next of kin down, where it would be easy to find. A good idea is to note down the phone numbers, email addresses and office room numbers of your lecturers or the secretaries in your department just in case you ever need to phone/email/write them a letter. This might be a good idea too for any experts in your field you happen to know- I am slowly getting a list of Egyptologists' phone numbers! 

- Assignments

This might be one of the most important sections of your filofax. You could dedicate a single piece of notepaper just to write down the title of the essay you have to write and the deadline; or you could have many sheets of paper, with notes such as books to look up, issues to investigate, maybe even notes from your research. However, I find that this really fills up your filofax; writing your lecture notes and research notes in an A5 filofax might work, but it would be a bit of a tight squeeze in a personal-sized filo or smaller. In my opinion, a normal notebook or folder would be better.

Also, sections like shopping lists, general notes section, maybe a separate to-do list, etc

I may have forgotten some things, but this is the basic stuff you will need for using your filofax to organise yourself. Each course and individual differs, so you could find things you need to add when you actually get to uni. Just use this as the framework for your filofax, and let the rest evolve naturally! 

If you have any other ideas, feel free to add them in the comments!!

Hope this helps! x

FINISHED!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe I have finished my undergraduate degree!!! Arghh!! It really hasn't sunk in yet! I had my last exam yesterday and will be receiving my results in a few weeks then graduating on 20th July!!
And yes, I did schedule "Collapse" into my filofax after my last exam :) I spent a lazy few hours in bed on the internet and watching TV, went to a friend's house and had lots of fun, and then went home and slept! That's all I wanted to do, so brilliant to actually have some time to do stuff!
So I suppose this should be my first proper post about being a student, seeing as how I'm the 'Perpetual Student' (and haven't written anything about my Life as a PS yet!!)

I study (or studied?) Egyptian Archaeology BA Hons at the University of Liverpool :)
I love it here, it's brilliant, I never want to leave!
We have a relatively small class of students, maybe 15 (tiny compared to some courses like Medicine, which has hundreds doing the same course in the same year!). We are divided into 2 separate courses, Egyptology and Egyptian Archaeology. The difference is that the Egyptologists are primarily dealing with textual evidence, that is reading the ancient Egyptian languages of Old Egyptian, Middle Egyptian, Late Egyptian and Coptic, otherwise known as "hieroglyphs" (although hieroglyphs is a script not a language). They translate a lot of primary texts; whereas Egyptian Archaeologists deal with the more archaeological side of things, also doing more general stuff like the archaeology and history of the Ancient Near East/Western Asia, and Middle Egyptian (thankfully far less language work than the Egyptologists!)
I originally did Egyptology, but when I realised how much language work I would need to do I switched to Egyptian Archaeology as I'm not brilliant at language and text-based things.
I LOVE my course, I wouldn't swap it for the world!
We have studied the history of ancient Egypt, Middle Egyptian, the archaeology of ancient Egypt including monumental evidence and settlement archaeology, foreign relations between Egypt and other countries, the technology of ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian religion and death and the afterlife :) I've also had to do other things like archaeology in general, studying Bronze and Iron Age Levant, and Ancient Warfare. I didn't enjoy those latter ones because I am definitely an Egypt-only girl!
Each module usually has a 2500-3000 word essay and an exam, but some modules especially Middle Egyptian have lots of work to do throughout the term (translating texts) and some are 100% coursework based so no exam :)
I love my course so much, and I am just about to apply to do my exam, actually I'm going to the library today to research and write the proposal! I'm a bit late to apply, but I have had so much work to do this last term that I haven't actually had time to do the research! But I am aiming to have the whole application form finished by Sunday night, and then I'll spend the whole of the next week packing to move back home!
During the summer I have lots of things planned to do, and unfortunately it looks like my employer won't need me to work during the summer :( So I'll do lots of work towards my MA instead!
I'm going to be setting up an MA planner filofax :) I just bought a raspberry Finsbury A5 filo from ebay :) very cheap, but it's slightly damaged, for example the rings don't close properly at the bottom :( But I'll cope! I'm looking forward to setting it up and using it :)