As the dissertation season began and fellow master’s students like me sat down to write our final piece of work before we broke for the summer, I felt supported and confident in undertaking and reporting my research, due to my experiences with the incredible team at LSE LIFE.
LSE LIFE offers guidance through a wide range of services such as workshops, 1-1 sessions, and special events which help students to learn more about their abilities and patterns of studying, and to identify areas of strength and improvement. Overall, LSE LIFE aims to support students on how to excel in their studies and broaden their learning beyond their chosen degree programme. The team that makes this possible includes advisors and experts from the LSE Library, the LSE Careers and LSE Language Centre, and various other services.
In my first few weeks at LSE, I was keen to hone my academic writing abilities and create strong pieces of work for my summative essays. For this, I was eager to seek feedback from experts on critical writing which I could then feed-forward to my final dissertation. In addition to discussing my formative feedback with my departmental tutors, I also booked a one-on-one session through StudentHub with an academic advisor who directed me to the various services that LSE LIFE offers. While these advisers cannot edit your work for errors, they can guide you in the right direction for further support. For instance, when I asked the academic advisor about how I could improve my critical writing skills, they directed me to the LSE LIFE Moodle page, which contains slides and articles on the best ways to organise arguments in essays and dissertations. These materials allowed me to be conscious of my writing and make sure I struck a good balance between discussing various works of literature while using a critical lens to analyse the merits of various arguments and perspectives.
I thoroughly enjoyed this first session, so I was excited to go to other LSE LIFE events such as workshops to hone my writing abilities, specifically in academic referencing. I went to a workshop put on by the LSE Library in collaboration with LSE LIFE where they discussed various strategies for students to properly cite research in their writing while upholding academic standards. Psychological writings often have strict standards for academic referencing, and after attending this workshop, I felt more comfortable with my citing abilities and the various referencing styles I could use.
Over the next few months, I eagerly followed the LSE LIFE website for the various events they hold, as towards the beginning of the Summer Term, workshops tended to focus on dissertations and were therefore super helpful to those who were looking to require further support after official teaching ended. A particularly exciting event is the Writing Retreat which LSE LIFE organises regularly, offering in-person and online options. Here, students can study together, either independently or collaboratively. To prevent distractions, we also turn off all electronic devices, which is a great way to maintain concentration. There are also short breaks provided to offer students the opportunity to check in with each other on their progress and set goals for completing their work. I find such events to be super motivating especially as dissertation writing can be quite an isolating task, particularly after group coursework such as lectures and seminars ended in the Spring and Summer terms.
Dissertation guidance is not the only area where LSE LIFE can help students make the most out of their programme. The Moodle page for LSE LIFE contains a myriad of resources covering all aspects of student life, from living in London to finding a job, to even self-care and stress-management techniques! During exam season, I found myself booking a place onto a mindfulness session hosted by LSE LIFE where I learnt about simple ways to be more aware of my surroundings, something that is key during busy exam seasons when it is easy to be carried away in your studies and not give enough importance and space to self-care and downtime.
Throughout my programme, I have consistently used the services of LSE LIFE and every time, I am impressed by the breadth of support it provides students, ensuring that they make the most of their time at LSE and excel in their studies as well as in other areas of their life!
