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When you move to a new school, fellow students can be as intimidating as a colony of vampires. The key is to remember that you are neither superior nor inferior to anybody in the room. School is a prime location for insecurities to brew. Just don’t give in to the mumbles in your head.

You may be thinking, “Well, I’m not good at the subject I’m studying.” Even if you are not learning a subject in the realm of your natural talents, you have to keep in mind that everybody is put in situations that make them feel uneasy. Consider it a test of your strength that no matter how nervous you may be, you are able to walk to the front of the chalkboard and solve a problem.

In addition to this, please don’t be afraid to ask for help! You may think that you’re the only person in the room who does not understand what is going on, but if you could open up your peers’ brains, you may be surprised to see the number of question marks floating around in their skulls. Have the courage to be yourself and admit your limitations!

This is not about simply making a list of facts and dates. It is much more about nudging your memory and boosting your creative abilities than it is about cramming information. Some cramming may indeed be unavoidable on the night before an exam but most of what you push into your mind will be forgotten after the exam. It is more effective to have your required knowledge comfortably established and needing only a pen and paper and a few memorized phrases to bring it to the foreground. What you want is to create links in your head that lead to other aspects of your knowledge that are applicable to the topic on which you are being examined.

This begins in each and every class as you are learning. The clue is to find where your passion lies in any particular topic. Even if you find some aspect of a subject boring, with a bit of creative thinking you will find something in there that connects to what really motivates you. Write this down in brackets as you take notes and then review later. You will be surprised how all things connect in some way and as soon as your motivation is stimulated what once seemed tedious takes on a whole new look.

Let’s look at an example: In class today you are studying the presence of the Ford Motor Company in Egypt from 1945 to 1960 and examining their record on relations with their Egyptian workers and the Egyptian business climate. You are not that interested in industry and you are finding it difficult to participate with any relevant questions. Wait a moment though; is this the beginning of globalization? Are there all the hallmarks of an imperialistic attitude present in Ford’s dealings with their employees? This is something that does interest you. Note it down and ask the lecturer a question. When you review your notes you need to establish the link between your interest in globalization and Ford’s relation to its employees. Does it demonstrate an imperialistic attitude or not?

It is no longer a few dry facts you are trying to remember but you have opened up an entire arena of academic discussion that will assist your learning and impress your teachers. This is what I call the creative synthesis of knowledge. You know which subjects inspire and motivate you most. They are probably subjects which are close to your heart because of personal interest. You might be studying Botany, or Meteorology, or Environmental Studies because your love of the natural world extends to a desire to work for its preservation. Do not be disillusioned when you find that this involves studying topics for which you have little inclination but which will be necessary for you to gain a fuller understanding of your subject. Look for an angle or perspective that motivates you to read and write. If you are socially-minded then a class on inner city attitudes to saving water will be easier to absorb if you include factors such as economic context and education. Similarly, if you are interested in religion you might compare attitudes to the environment and human responsibility in two or three faiths and their scriptures.

There is one warning here, unless you are doing a research degree you must be careful not to become more occupied with your own angle than allows a creative addition to your required learning and which demonstrates that you have a good grasp of the matter taught. In essays and exam papers questions must be answered without digression so always make sure that you have all the relevant facts and that your extra research supports these facts.

Most of the books on your required reading list you will be borrowing from the university library but there may be one or two you would like to have permanently on your book shelves. Plus the main reference books which will be required throughout a course and you will therefore have to buy. Text books are generally expensive but there are ways to pay less. Here we will be looking at the various opportunities to buy books for less.

The Campus Book Store

This may be your first and obvious choice. They have all the text books on your list. You go in, buy, and leave with all your books and a big hole in your budget. There are cheaper options and you can make significant savings.

The Used Book Store and the Campus Book Swap

A university town is bound to have some used text books in its used book stores. I do not suggest scouring every store searching for what you need. That would be time consuming and you probably would not find a great deal. However, it is certainly worthwhile keeping an eye open for bargains and making a regular visit to one or two local used book stores. More efficient is a scheme such as the Campus Book Swap. You can also set up something similar on your own campus where this is not already available. This makes so much sense. Students who are graduating may not want to keep all their text books and could provide a constant, cheap supply to students entering the same courses.

Buying Online

Online is definitely the best place to be buying your text books if you cannot find them in a used book store or through a campus book swap. This is an example of what I found when I did a Google search on Jacques Derrida, Of Grammatology,

Amazon: List Price: $24.95; Amazon price: $18.22; Used and new prices through Amazon: $13.18 cheapest. As you see, I can save nearly $12 by buying here instead of at the Campus book store. The savings add up when you are buying several books each semester. In the course of the search I also discovered a site which has writings of every major philosopher from the beginning of the 17th century to the present day including most of Chapter Two from Of Grammatology. In addition I found the Stanford Presidential Lectures site which includes a biography, a full bibliography, and writing excerpts of some of the scholars. Scholars include Partha Chatterjee; Jacques Derrida; Homi Bhabha; Gayatri Spivak, and many more who have been part of the lecture program. The moral of this sample search is, buy online and also do a search to find related materials for free.

Photocopying Quota

Undergraduates may have to pay per photocopied page but it is still cheaper to do on campus. Postgraduates at many universities have a free photocopying quota. Use it to the full, without breaching the copyright laws on what percentage of a book you are allowed to photocopy. This does not, of course, replace the need to buy text books but it is invaluable for required reading of selected chapters of books. When there are only one or two copies of a book in the library and a long queue waiting to borrow then photocopying gives you more time to read and take notes, and to use later for revision.

Keeping a schedule book might be one of the most important things you can do to keeping yourself on track both in school and in your day-to-day life. What medium you choose to do this in is entirely up to you. Many people keep their schedule on their cell phones, their laptops, their blackberries, or in a book. Regardless of which medium you find most convenient, implementing and maintaining a schedule is an important thing to do. The following will show you the most successful ways to implement a schedule and how to best maintain it.

The best scheduling books and programs seem to be the ones that allow you to not only look at the current day, but the entire week, as well. This allows you to plot your week in advance so that you’re not surprised day-to-day. This is only successful, however, if you start scheduling the right way.

First, at the beginning of each week, write down everything you have to do in that week. Write in tests and exams and important due dates, but also write down studying you know you’re going to have to do and other engagements. Also, if you know upcoming events further than that week, write those down, too.

Next, cross things off as you complete them. This has two benefits: first, you won’t think you have a bunch to do when it’s already been completed; and second, it will give you a sense of accomplishment. This will help keep you motivated and feeling that you are moving in the right direction.

Add things in as they come up, and get rid of things as they become unimportant. This is important because for a schedule to be useful it has to be up-to-date. This is also useful when looking ahead. Most people’s schedules don’t radically change from month to month, so keeping an accurate record of the current month’s happenings will help you effectively plan into the future.

And lastly, set realistic goals for yourself when scheduling. This means that you need to allow yourself some flexibility and down time. Look at your schedule as guidelines, not laws. Remember, this is a tool to help you and minimize your stress. Let it do its work!

I always hear from other writers that in order to write, you have to read as well as write every day. There are a million different writing exercises out there and they’re being used by colleges, professional writers, and amateurs alike.

They all strengthen writing skills. But I’ve also read a handful of times that writers also begin to notice things in different ways than most people do. They think in terms of describing what they see to someone else rather than simply just seeing.

I’ve decided that observation skills are important, too, not only to write but also to live. If you know certain descriptive words or phrases or simply just like to envision how you would tell someone about it, then your observation skills are being used. Good observation skills can put you ahead of the game on many levels; if you notice something that other job applicants don’t notice, then you’ll stand apart from the other potentials in a positive way.

Here are a few observation exercises I’ve come up with. Some of these are really fun, while others are a little more tedious, especially for those who don’t necessarily write. They all help improve your observation skills, though.

Exercise 1: Descriptive yelling.

Sounds a little harsh, but it really isn’t. If you’re somewhere different, somewhere you may not go to all the time or be in all the time, watch little things for a small amount of time and see if any descriptive words pop into your head, then shout them out. Or just say them. The shouting just makes it more entertaining =)

I was pushing a full cart – very full – through the parking lot a few days ago and did this. “Precariously!” because everything on my cart was balanced but not sturdy.

Exercise 2: Look a little more closely.

When you’re going about your daily tasks and the world is turning and you’re doing your thing, try looking at things for just a second longer than usual. You never know what you might notice there. Maybe you notice that a moth looks like its wings are textured and bronzed. Maybe you notice that your instructor put a mistake into your paper on accident. Maybe that strange shape hidden in tall grass on the side of the road is a vehicle full of people in need of rescue.

The point is to take in as much as you possibly can. Remember all the shiny, beautiful things in the world and enjoy them. There is a lot out there that looks more interesting up close – especially when you take a few moments to appreciate its beauty.

Exercise 3: Trust your spinach!

There was an exercise in a book about writing that was referred to, and in this exercise, you’re being taught to trust your intuition or instinct but replace intuition or instinct with the name of a vegetable. Vegetables are healthy for you, right? They’re inanimate, can’t really betray your trust. Plus, it’s funny to tell people you trust your corn. Or your broccoli. Or, in my case, my spinach.

The point in this for observation purposes is to look again if you feel like you need to. There could be a really good reason for that need, like checking behind a bunch of merchandise you don’t want to find the exact one you do want.

Exercise 4: Write down everything.

Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. Obviously, you can’t write down everything. What you can do is sit down with a specific object and put it in front of you. Then, you begin to write down everything you possibly can in regards to this object. What color is it? How can you specifically describe this color to communicate a mood? What size and shape is it? Can you pick it up? How much does it weigh? Do you like picking it up or is it difficult and awkward? How do you portray an emotion through this action and description?

Once you do this a few times – let’s say three to five times – your observation skills will increase massively.

Why does this work? How does it work?

Just like when you learn to drive a car or walk as an infant, you can learn observation. Your mind makes connections and those connections strengthen as you practice whatever it is that you’re doing.

If you do something every day for a year, then stop and start doing something else, there’s a good chance you’ll be rusty after another year. However, when you re-learn something, your mind makes the connections again much more quickly than the first time, and you suddenly find it, once again, fun and effortless.

Playing the piano and speaking a foreign language are examples of these things.

A good example of what fields good observation skills are useful in is police and detective work. Someone may tell these people more about themselves through body language than through their words.

Another field this is important in is software development, web development, and anything that involves script or coding languages like web design. If you’re learning how to become a software developer, you’re probably tediously troubleshooting pages upon pages of code or script to make things work properly.

Obviously, developing your observation skills is important for a number of careers. I hope these little exercises get you going and help you begin developing a keen sense of observation and attention to detail!