How to Succeed in School

                        "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin

As a fourth-year student in her last semester, I can tell you that school is no easy journey. There were many semesters where I was uncertain if I could finish my degree. There were also semesters where I took 6 courses and got on the Dean’s List. School works in mysterious ways. There is no secret one-size-fits-all study plan that works for everyone. However, I am here to tell you about the tips and hacks I learned in my undergraduate journey at the University of Ottawa. This is my take on how to succeed in school.

1.     Procrastination is your worst enemy.

Procrastination is something every university has struggled with at some time in their academic career. As long as you can manage the amount of time that procrastination takes place, you can still be a successful student. You must remember that although you are putting that assignment or studying off until later, eventually, you will have to do it and perhaps in a more stressful environment. Even by working on a task every day for 30 minutes, you will become more motivated to finish. Furthermore, this strategy often produces better results as you spend many days refining your project to perfection.

2.     Organizational skills are key.

A key strategy I began using in 2020 is an excel spreadsheet to track all my course deliverables. This helps me visualize 4-month semesters in terms of deadlines and plan my weeks better.  Additionally, as a safety measure, I also add these deadlines as events into my phone’s calendar. I will set all the deadlines to have an alert 2 days before as well as 1 hour before. This helps me ensure that during my busy semesters no deliverables will go uncompleted.

3.     Ask for help.

School is no trip to Disney Land. It takes a toll on your personal life and the stress from school can also take a toll on your health: mentally and physically. It is important to be honest with yourself and ask for help when you need. Whether it be that you need a friend to talk to, an extension from a professor or even a tutor to help you understand concepts, just ask. 99% of the time, professors are extremely accommodating and will help you to the best of their ability. Personally, finding a tutor to help me get through the math courses of the Bachelor of Commerce program was the best thing I could have done. I never thought I could pass the classes until I took a hard look at the options ahead of me. There is no shame in asking for help. Asking for help has saved me so much time and has motivated me to focus on my strengths in other subjects instead.

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I am glad to have found a study plan that truly helps me succeed and become the best student I can be and I hope some of these tips will work for you. Please let me know of any of your own study tips that have worked for you during your journey pursuing an education and do not hesitate to contact me for more information on tips for school. If you enjoyed this blog post, please subscribe to my newsletter! Happy studies!