Joining LSE during the tumultuous time that was COVID taught me many valuable lessons; many unwritten. Having had a mix of in-person and online teaching, I’ve gathered my list of tips and advice on how to navigate uni life as a first-year:
- Do not worry if you do not have all revision notes together after the first term. It is important you figure out how you like your note-taking for each module first as having noted all over the place or being too clunky can delay and overwhelm you when it comes to revising.
- Decide whether you’d prefer all your classwork/note-taking typed up or handwritten as having your work all in one place will prevent last-minute panicking.
- Make sure to read through the departmental guide at least once. Although it may seem very tedious, I found that reading it before term gave me an overarching summary and what to expect from the course.
- Do try to apply to opportunities here and there but do not stress about it too much as more opportunities will open up for you in your penultimate year.
- Do not rush into buying textbooks. Some textbooks are available online or at the library or second-hand. Books you study in your first year may not be used again so decide wisely when purchasing books.
- Do make sure to communicate with your teachers if issues do arise as communication is key. If you do run into larger issues do speak to mentors as they are there to support and guide you.
- Although you may be hyper-focused on work, do try to explore societies and attend events on campus to meet fellow undergraduates.
- Do not stress yourself out if you are behind on work, you can always allocate yourself time to catch up later on.
- Not as academic but; keep a spare mask with you, a charger, and an umbrella.
- In order to keep up with COVID safe guidelines, I allocate days in the week to complete a lateral flow test in order to come on to campus. It’s very easy to forget to take your test but I found that having it scheduled means I do not neglect it.
- Do use your reading weeks to actually relax and destress, it is important to find an outlet for stress in order to manage it throughout the year.
