How to ‘uni’ in 2020 (to get ahead in 2021)

Whether you’re starting at UTS for the first time, or are returning back from break, the beginning of session can sometimes feel a little stressful while you get settled into study. And if you want to start being proactive for your future on top of that? You may need some insider advice on how to manage it all.

Luckily for you, we’ve rounded up our top tips for making the most of your time this session to help you set yourself up for success in 2021 and beyond!

Get to know your uni

While many services are operating both on-campus and online, it’s a good idea to familiarise yourself with the support services you may need to know about this session.

UTS Careers

Regardless of the time of year, we are here to assist you with your career needs!

Whether it’s one-on-one advice with our Drop-in service, quick and easy resume tips with Rate My Resume, finding a mentor, exploring job and internship opportunities, career events and webinars, online resources – we’ve got you covered.

For information about all of this and more, be sure to check out our website.

UTS Library

The UTS Library is open every day, if you’re on-campus this session and need to track down a book or quiet place to study (you can find their opening hours here). They also host a number of events throughout the session, with anything from Giant Jenga to language help, assignment assistance and loads more. You can also use their Ask a Librarian function to chat with someone online.

They posted a great article welcoming students back for Spring session, so be sure to check it out to see what else is on.

UTS Counselling and Health

UTS offers a number of health and wellbeing services for students in need of some assistance.

UTS Counselling offer online appointments during both teaching and non-teaching weeks, so be sure to check out their site for details on how to book a session. Alternatively, they also offer a number of digital resources that may assist you.

The UTS Health Service offers on-campus appointments with one of their resident GPs to students, as well as tele-health consults. Be sure to read the full details on their website before making an appointment.

Online support

While there are too many UTS support services to go into full detail here, be sure to check out the Supporting online study page for further information on academic and IT support, and much more.

Make the most of studying online

Depending on what you’re studying, this session may not be precisely as you imagined, with the pandemic continuing to change the nature of learning this year. You’re likely at uni because you’re passionate about a particular field, and you may be worried that studying from home could set you back in your pursuits – don’t be!

Here are a few quick tips to make the most of studying from home.

Say goodbye to the car and hello to a webinar  

Look, some people may miss the morning and afternoon rush and bustle of trekking it in to uni, but there are upsides to studying from home.

During the time you would’ve been spending on transport to or from uni, maybe book into a webinar and spend an hour improving your skills or learning more about your industry. There are loads over on CareerHub, and our Recruitment Advisors are currently hosting Webinar Wednesdays as well this session, so be sure to check them out.

You can star in your own epic training montage (cue: ‘Eye of the Tiger’ playlist)

With the potential for more downtime between classes, you may even have time to sneak in a little professional you-time to start honing your skills.

Because you’re a UTS student, you get access to free classes like UTS Taster courses and LinkedIn Learning, so you can power up your industry skills and abilities.

Industry are (virtually) closer than ever

Despite the cut down on in-person events, industry are still keen to meet with students looking to get a head-start on their careers. Each month there are multiple events and opportunities to connect with industry professionals – whether that be at virtual careers fairs (there are a few happening this month!), webinars, info sessions – you name it, they’re there.

Plus, you may even get to meet with organisations from further afield who wouldn’t have been able to attend an in-person event in the first place.

Pick up a few habits along the way

It’s easy to get dragged along by the faster pace of early session, and let some of the more important habits fall along the wayside. If this sounds like you, hi! This is your wake-up call.

Set some #goals

If you’re getting settled into session without really thinking farther ahead than when your next assignment is due, you may not be on your ultimate path to success.

You need to channel your inner cartoon/anime character. You know the one that’s like 60% person, 40% dream goal? (See: Mr Naruto I-will-be-Hokage Uzumaki or Ms She-I-will-defeat-the-Horde-Ra).

Come up with at least one goal you’d like to achieve this session, and set time aside to make it happen. With this year passing so quickly, it will be a great marker in time to look back on with pride and to help motivate you for your next challenge.

Failing to plan is planning to fail

Even if you might not actually be going outside as much as you normally would be, having a place where you write down your plans is pretty essential to staying on top of things.

Whether you’re ardently analogue or definitely digital, having a book or an app to save all of your upcoming events/assignments/to-do’s is an essential. The fun part? Colour-coding. It not only looks hectic, but is actually super helpful to know what’s coming up with a quick glance.

Take care of ‘you’

With some classes still online, it can be easy to become bogged down in constant screen time, so make sure you still plan time to chat with your friends, start that TV show you’ve been meaning to watch, go for a walk – all the things that help refresh or inspire you so you can get right back into study when you need to. AKA, start working on your work-life balance.

Featured image courtesy of Unsplash