Exam season is almost upon us, and the campus air is filled with tension and panic. Students cower in libraries and empty lecture rooms, attempting to prepare themselves for the end of block, and the harrowing start of the June exams. The weather grows cold, the people grow fearful, and, as always, I show up to save the day! As someone who hasn’t written a test in two years – and who hasn’t written an ­in-person test in four years – I am clearly the perfect candidate to prepare you for these trying times, and to equip you with some great studying tips, dear reader! I am the greatest student to ever live, after all…

Stress is a great motivator, but it can also be a great hindrance. I want you to walk into your exam confident and calm, and the most important skill you will need to achieve this is good time management­. I know how overwhelming it can feel considering how much content you need to cover before an exam. Just thinking about it can freak you out and send you into a spiral, making it difficult to even start working. That’s why good time management is everything. Assess how much work you need to get through, how much time you have to get through it all, and then create a study timetable that will allow you to work through everything while allowing yourself ample time to rest and recover. I am a huge advocate for sleeping, and I refuse to let anything encroach on my beauty sleep – that’s why I look so young and vibrant despite being well into my early twenties.

It is critical not to overwork yourself, because that will only make it harder to study and to retain the information you study. Don’t work hard, work consistently. Creating a study timetable – and sticking to it – will ensure that you’re not up the night before an exam, desperately hoping you can skip an entire section of work that probably won’t be in the exam anyway*. There is no shortage of great apps designed specifically to help you create a detailed study timetable, so there’s really no excuse not to do it!

* Cramming is a wonderful way to increase your stress levels, and decrease your ability to retain information. I highly recommend cramming if you love procrastinating and hate passing your exams. Check with a trusted medical professional before trying cramming. Side effects may include mental exhaustion, poor marks, and a deep sense of regret.

Once you’ve created a comprehensive study timetable, you need to create a good study environment. Clear your cluttered desk, throw your phone into the nearest body of water you can find, and grab some good old-fashioned pens and paper, because we’re about to get knee-deep in note-taking! I prefer to work without music – especially music with lyrics – but if you find yourself in a noisy environment that you can’t escape, I recommend listening to the work of Ludovico Einuadi. His instrumentals are mostly piano based, and I find it very calming and easy to tune out while working. Except for the times when he shreds on the piano – avoid the songs where he goes absolutely wild on the keys, because while it’s exhilarating, it’s not conducive to working. With regards to how I work, my studying involves writing a lot of notes. I like to ease into the work by simply going through lecture slides, readings, and textbooks, reading aloud and highlighting key points, ensuring that I have a good understanding of the content. If there’s anything that confuses me, I’ll dig deeper into that topic and ensure it makes sense to me before I move on. After this, I begin taking notes, creating mind maps, and actively engaging with the content. I have developed my own personal shorthand which makes my notes incomprehensible to anyone who isn’t me, but it saves me so much time when writing and revising my work. It’s good to start off by writing comprehensive notes, and then having the notes become less detailed as you revise them and rewrite them. Flashcards with key terms are a great way to keep information fresh in your mind and to quiz yourself on the work you’ve covered.

Finally, I want to let you know about a friend you should never neglect. That friend, of course, is past papers. Ignore the questionable grammar in that sentence, and focus on the sentiment. It’s not enough to just remember study content – you need to know how to apply your knowledge to answer a question. Past papers give you an idea of how you’ll need to utilise the content you’ve studied, how questions will be phrased, and how answers should be structured. Working through past papers is a great way to not only revise your work, but to refine your exam taking abilities. They’re also a window into the twisted minds of the people who create your exams. Know your enemy, dear reader!

Now, go find the nearest body of water to throw your phone into, and get studying, dear reader! I know you’re going to do great!

It’s a question that’s plagued humanity since the dawn of university itself. Are students less than human? More than human? If you cut me, will I bleed in Wits’ colours? Will I bleed at all? These are questions that no one has ever asked, and today, I plan on answering them. To be clear, I plan on answering the questions that don’t involve me getting cut. I’m not that committed to finding answers… So, join me, dear reader, as I reflect on what it means to be a student, and the anxiety of remembering that, at some point, you’ll have to be something else.

Six years ago, I entered university as a human of 18 years, and I’ve been a student ever since, making me an ideal candidate to explore these issues. Though I will be exploring my subjective perspective of what it means to be a student, I first want to outline what we know about students in general. The word ‘student’ is derived from the Latin term studium, which is a verb which either means “to study” or “painstaking application”. The latter definition of course doesn’t apply to all students, and I would argue that neither does the first, because I know a lot of students, and I don’t think either happens very often.

However, students aren’t monoliths, and you will find students who are incredibly hardworking and devoted to excelling at university… but you’ll also find students who are incredibly devoted to day-drinking and wasting their parents’ money. Both are equally valid expressions of studenthood, and it’s important to find a balance between working hard and hardly working. I would say that I’ve struck a fine balance between the two, but an unbiased person would probably disagree. I’m lucky enough to have experienced both sides of being a student – the anxiety-inducing, breakneck sprint to meet a deadline, and the lazy, fun days spent ditching lectures and relaxing with friends. What’s important is that you never let one side consume you, and to always remember one very important thing: you won’t be a student forever.

I know that doesn’t always feel true, but it is. University is a stepping stone towards employment for many people. It’s a liminal space between High School and the Real World, where students are given more freedom and independence, while still being tethered to a school system. Attending university is about building a future – and that is terrifying for a lot of people, myself included! I’ve been tutoring for three years now, and in every class I’ve tutored, I’ve had students approach me talking about how anxious they are about what comes after university. A lot of students feel as if they’re approaching a cliff, and are running out of time to figure out how not to fly off the edge. So, what do I say to these students?

Usually, it’s something like: don’t panic, it’s going to be fine. You’re not running out of time; you have your whole life ahead of you. You won’t be a student forever, but you will still have room to manoeuvre and grow as a person. You’ll still have room to change and to learn, to find your place. Life is full of opportunities, and as scary as it is to leave this chapter of your life behind, it’s important to do so. You can’t fight it, so accept it, and everything will work out. At least, that’s what I assume will happen. I don’t know for sure; I’m still just a student after all.

Just between you and me, dear reader, sometimes I wonder if the real reason I’m applying for funding for my PhD is to prolong my time as a student – to delay being a human, just that little bit longer…