Laura Says Relax!

 Hey Lovelies,

Hope you are all ay okay and are all enjoying the sunshine that is finally here! Now not long until we break up for summer and for all you third years you get to graduate!!!! But unfortunately before we can think about that we have to think about the dreaded E word, last blog I spoke to you guys about revision techniques and this blog I will be talking about stress relieving and making time to relax during exam season, which trust me, I know is easier said than done.

• The most important thing when revising is to give yourself a break, don’t sit there for all day and night because it is unlikely your brain will process a lot of information, if it is anything like mine it will start to frazzle haha. So every hour – 1 hour and a half get up and walk somewhere, go outside, get some drinks/snacks and give yourself a chance to process the info you just read.
• Whilst exam season does include a lot of heavy hours, make sure you do assign at least a couple of days a few weeks before exams to do nothing exam related- go shopping, meet up with friends etc., I know we are students but we need to make sure we don’t overload ourselves because the chances are if we do we may start to really panic and become over anxious.
• When it comes to just before an exam- BREATHE, soooo obvious but really important haha if we panic too much and our minds race at trying to think about what we can remember and this can cause an even bigger distraction. Stay focussed but remember the calmer you are the easier it will be to remember information. One of my biggest tips will be don’t linger right outside the exam room beforehand if you do you will become over anxious and hear what other people have revised and panic can build.

So guys those are some very simple but useful tips I can offer you in terms of not getting over-stressed. But I know you will all do great! This weekend I am giving myself a break and on Saturday I am going to Norfolk to see my lovely second cousin Rachel who I grew up with and haven’t seen for absolute years so that will be amazing and I’m really excited about it J

I hope whatever you guys get up to this weekend, you have a lovely one and if you are revising remember what I said ;) I will speak to you all again soon about how to make use of your time in exams and also my third year psychology choices which I choose on Monday – aaaah. If I don’t speak to you before good luck.

Take Care Lovelies,

Xoxo

L

Keep Calm and We Will Get Through These Exams!!!

Hey Guys,

It seems like ages ago I last spoke to you, but I hope you have all been well and you had a nice relaxing Easter break, some of you like me have another week off yay. During the holidays I went to Colchester zoo and got to feed giraffes and elephants- that was defiantly one to tick off the bucket list!

Today and over some of my next few blogs I will be providing you with some hints and tips for various aspects of exams and how to get through them in the least stressful way possible. Today I am talking REVISING these tips can be used by all the students taking exams, however some may just be focussed on Psychology so if you aren’t studying the subject, obviously ignore those ones, I will put a ** next to them so you know which ones are more specific to my course J

1. So first things first DON’T PANIC, remember almost every student at this uni and those all over the country are in the same position as you.
2. I know now is about the time we all look at our notes and realise there are some things that are a blur but it’s perfectly normal, the key here is to look over the notes briefly ASAP so you can determine as quickly as possible where the parts that aren’t so clear are and ask the lecturers or fellow students to help.
3. Revision Timetable – it may sound cliché and obvious but it is surprising how much making one of these works, especially if you have different modules/courses to revise for. It is also a way to see that your time gets divided equally focussing on each part.
4. It is easy to get stressed from thinking about all the exams coming up and panicking but it is a good idea to take things one step at a time, think about each course individually and not all of them together, that way it seems like less of a mountain to climb.
5. ** For the open book exams (mainly statistics- but I know some of the other courses are holding them too) remember it is only one book you get to take with you, so get a notebook or something similar and make sure your notes/lectures slides are organised well and in a way that you will be able to find what you need quickly. Although we have the book there to support us, we don’t want to be spending all our time flipping through the pages thinking ‘I know it’s in here somewhere’ **
6. Make notes colourful and important parts stand out. Use flash cards, record yourself, make spider diagrams etc. No one knows you better than yourself, only you can know what revision techniques work best for you and what ways work to help information stay in your head longer J If you have no idea what way you learn best then here is an interactive test to help you determine whether visual, auditory or kinaesthetic revision techniques are best for you. http://www.ldpride.net/learning-style-test.html
7. Spend time revising with others on the course, sounds simple and easy but by spending even a little time doing this not only makes revision more bearable but also helps you get other opinions, revision techniques and methods – just make sure you do revise and not chat about other things, which is a big trap with this technique ha-ha.
8. ** Anyone studying psychology, the statistics lecturers will be there to help with our revision. Josh will be holding sessions for the first years which he will be letting you know about and Damian is holding drop in sessions for the second years, of which you have to book with him in advance via his email, these drop ins will be held on the 25^th April and 2^nd May and will only be on particular aspects you are having trouble with and not whole lectures/topics. This is a definite for first and second years, for third years I’m not 100% so best to check with Trevor or Ian to find out if they are holding any J **

So guys, those are just a few tips in terms of revision, if you want to ask me anything just leave a comment and I will try and get back to you. But I know we will get through this together. Don’t give up, I will be back soon to talk to you more about exams and some stress relieving techniques.

Good Luck Guys,

Xoxo

Laura

Almost Easter…

Hey Lovelies,

Hope you are all ok and just think for the majority of us, 1 more week to go :) Yay, the Easter holidays are almost here!! Mum asked me if I was too old to have an Easter egg, obviously I answered ‘no I am never too old’ honestly who is too old to have a chocolate egg?? But this year Easter Sunday is particularly special because it is also a certain someone’s 20th birthday, no names but *cough*Laura*cough* ----  so not only do I get chocolate eggs this year but presents as well, I am mega excited !

So, a lot has been happening at the moment with me, firstly I’m sure like many of you, there has been a mad panic rush to get all of my work in before the Easter break, I can’t believe when we are back it is exam season, where did this academic year go ? I managed to get my Lab Report 3 in on time (The Paranormal Project) so I am relieved !!

Secondly, I went for an interview for Childline to be a volunteer counsellor and I got it :D, although some calls I know will be tough I’m looking forward to getting experience and helping those who need it. Anyone on the Psychology with Counselling course I would definitely recommend applying to any organisation like this to volunteer your time once a week, not only are you helping others but you are also making yourself stand out in a very competitive area of work.

The reason I am posting my blog this week instead of next is because I am going to hospital for the week, not to have an operation or anything serious like that. Basically I have been noticing I have been really tired these past few months even when I have slept a whole night through, I was literally falling asleep everywhere and eventually I realised it wasn’t just the amount of work we had to do which was making me tired LOL.

I have now been diagnosed with something called REM behaviour disorder -I know, I had no idea what that was either- but it basically means in the REM stage of sleep (the part where we dream) I am partially conscious and am basically missing out on a certain part of my sleep mentally even though physically I appear to be sleeping. Next week I am going for a sleep study to monitor it and will then be on tablets, but I am totally fine just very sleepy. The only downer is I have to wear electrodes on my head for a night or two ha-ha I’m going to look stunning. I’m sure you will see a photo of me like it in one of the blogs in April, as my friends are set on taking a photo of me and putting it on Facebook, how embarrassing.

Right guys that’s it from me for this term, I will be blogging in April with an update from my sleep study and also with some tips to keep calm during revision and exam stress. I hope you all have an amazing break and I will talk to you really soon. Have a fab Easter hols.

Xoxo

Laura

Want to Work For Greenwich?

Hey Guys,

Hope you all are well and good, there was me enjoying our lovely weather and bursts of sunshine, I even sat outside on campus during breaks and then sadly here we are back to rainy old England :( 

As most of you know we had an Open Day last weekend which I worked at on reception for the Avery Hill Campus, it was so fab to see loads of interest for Greenwich and I love the fact that across all three of our campuses students and staff come together to showcase the University to prospective students. To all prospective students I hope you enjoyed your day and really got a feel for what the university is like; if you missed it not to worry at all as we have another open day coming up on the 13^th of April 10am-3pm.

  

I also went to help out at the UCAS convention, for those of you who don’t know what that is it’s where all the Universities across the country come together and have stalls set up and prospective students take a look around and ask all the questions they want to. It was a great day but also extremely hectic. Thinking back to when I was applying for university I never even knew those conventions existed so if you guys no anyone thinking of applying to university in the next coming years I would defiantly recommend them attending. The student ambassadors / events assistants for our University also worked on behalf of UCAS across the four days, so we basically proved that the University of Greenwich are the business!! J

This University does a great job in making sure that as many of our students that want to be, are employed. We offer loads of opportunities whether it’s working at the campus shops, working as events assistants, student ambassadors or on the clearing hotline (like I did last summer) etc., the opportunities are there to make that possible. If you fancy having a look at the current vacancies the University has to offer click on this link http://greenwich.prospects.ac.uk/ and register and have a look to see if any jobs stand out to you and if they do go ahead and make an online application.

That’s it from me today guys, Take Care.

Xoxo

Laura

P.S. The blonde girl in that picture is meeeeeee J I Love representing Greenwich (and posting pictures of myself-clearly) haha speak soon. 

Moving On Out!

Hey Guys,

How are we all? Hope everything is going okay for you. So Valentine’s Day has just passed hope all of you spent it with the ones you love, even if you’re single I usually just found it an excuse to have a party with my friends J.

  

A couple of blogs back I spoke to you about a video I was doing for the Greenwich is Great marketing campaign we have here, I’m sure you have seen it on the website or the side of buses, now as yet the photos for 2013 haven’t been released which I’m kind of grateful for however the video that I did has and so if you fancy giving it a watch click on this link:

http://www2.gre.ac.uk/study/studentssay/laura

I’m pretty pleased with it although my voice sounds dodgy, do you ever get that where you watch videos back of yourself and say ‘I really sound like that?’ haha. Anyways if you go on that link you can see what I and some fellow Greenwich students have to say about this lovely uni.

Right now on Psychology with Counselling 2^nd Year we are continuing to collect data for our mini projects (the paranormal project I spoke about last time), this can be very tricky for us students as we need lots of participants so if you ever see one advertised, usually in the Bronte building pop by to see if there are any you can take part in because I guarantee we’d be grateful to see you.

I also have some exciting news at the moment I am still living at home as I only live in Dartford so it’s not far to travel but next academic year, me and my friend on the course Amy will be moving out with a couple of our friends to a house in the Avery Hill area. I am so excited this will be the first time in my whole life I would have moved out of my childhood home so even though it’s not far we can expect waterworks from me oh dear! But now it means I will be an independent woman (literally I keep singing Destiny’s Child version of that song) I think Amy may soon regret asking me to move in with her. She will do especially when she tries my cooking mwahaha.

 Right Greenwich-ers that’s all for today I will speak to you all very soon.

Xoxo

Laura

My Paranormal Project

Heya Lovely People…

Hope you are all well and didn't get too stuck in the random snow burst we had. I finally got to see Les Miserables in the IMAX it was soooooo good, I did cry I started at about four minutes in. Me and my friend Jack sang along to all the songs it was amazing. I especially loved seeing Greenwich haha I was so proud to be a student here. I didn't think we would get there though as our bus had a stone thrown at it which shattered the window we were sitting by and glass went over us and my cheek got hit, I only had a scratch the size of a pin prick though so we were all fine. My friend Sam was hilarious he did a James Bond style dive to the ground, didn't help us but still he was definitely on the ball.

So work in second year psychology is getting a bit more intense now as we have to arrange a mini project with a supervisor, this is where we create a study ourselves to be carried out and we have to make it into a poster report and presentation. I won’t go into too much detail about what I’m going to look at as you never know I may come and ask you to do the questionnaires, but the topic I’m interested in is paranormal and personality. We have also been told to start thinking about what we want to do next year for our big dissertation project so I will probably look at body image perception, as this is a topic area that really interests me.

Hope you guys are all good and if either prospective or current students have any questions for me regarding my course you can leave a comment on this blog and I will try and get back to you :)

Speak soon guys

Xoxo

Laura

Les Miserables

Hey Guys J

How are we all? My Abnormal Psychology exam is completed- yay, I was a bit worried about whether or not I would remember everything, but I think I did so fingers crossed. I just have my second lab report left to do for Research Methods in Psychology 2, which has been interesting because it is in a completely different style as we are using qualitative data (interviews) instead of quantitative (statistics), we are doing this to get used to an alternate style which we can use for our dissertations next year, so it has been nice to keep our options open.

Anyways now most of my coursework and exams are all submitted for January it means I have some spare time on my hands and the first thing I am planning to do is go and see Les Miserables in the cinema. I kid you not I am so excited, not least because pretty much the whole way through I will be going ‘there’s my uni, there’s my uni there’s my uni !!’ It is possible no one will agree to see it with me, but I can’t help it if I’m proud of our uni right ?

I have already bought the soundtrack and on my way back from the exam I was driving along belting out ‘On my own’ loudly believing I was Eponine and turned to see a lorry driver laughing his head off at me, not really the reception I was hoping for from my audience haha but it did make me laugh.

  

I hope you are all doing ok and powering through all of your work, I can’t believe the UCAS main cycle deadline has passed for applicants for September already, last year flew by. It’s great though because more and more people want to come to Greenwich yay J

Speak soon guys, I will tell you about the film next week, no doubt I will cry my eyes out.

Xoxo

Laura