March 31, 2014
Best friends… Just like an exam reviser and Examiners’ Reports.
It turns out that this was not the week to begin any DIY projects or move the furniture, especially since I am planning a nice big project right after my last exam on 14 May. This week, my project was limited to a cleaning fit in my office. Sometimes a task that lets me lose myself and my thoughts in something other than my major preoccupation is very helpful. Cleaning my office always feels productive, and does not really affect any other area of the house, like where I study. Cleaning and letting go of my thoughts helped me put my revising in perspective and make an inventory of my ‘Reviser’s Best Friends,’ including a day to clear my head and refocus my attention and efforts.
My very best revising friend is the Examiners’ Reports available online as both past exam papers and the examiner’s summary of answers to each question. Examiners’ Reports summarize most of the questions on each exam with points about what makes good answers. They also point out problems with answers and things I can avoid when writing my essays at exam time. Right now, there is a lot of conversation in our student chat rooms about how to prepare for exams. Nota Bene: use the Examiners’ Reports.
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English | Tagged: BA English, exam reviser, exam strategy, examiners reports, research, revision, study plan, study schedule, time management, University of London International Programmes, Victorians | 
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Posted by caowrites
March 24, 2014
Today I feel a real need to rearrange all the furniture in the house or start a DIY project. Much to Jelly Bean’s and my husband’s dismay, these are my two favorite ways to relieve stress. That would be a very welcome thing just now.
I do not move Jelly Bean’s bed, the chair she likes to sleep in right next to my desk, or the sofa near the window where she naps and watches the neighborhood. My creative rearranging process is limited to her toy boxes, which she watches carefully. My husband is not as lucky. He has never asked me not to rearrange his domestic sanctum, so I rearrange at will. Some of my DIY projects are legendary. We laugh about most of them. I can tell that my husband is still a little confounded by my DIY inspiration and motivation, regardless of my stress relief prescription.
This week has been stressful. My darling little Jelly Bean has not been feeling well, my job is more demanding than ever, and my course, ‘Victorians’ is bothering me to distraction. That is a prelude for moving almost every stick of furniture in the house or grabbing my hammer or paint brush. No matter how much I study, I do not feel like there is enough time to master ‘Victorians’ sufficiently.
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1 Comment | English | Tagged: BA English, exam strategy, research, revision, study plan, study schedule, time management, University of London International Programmes, Victorians | Permalink
Posted by caowrites
March 18, 2014
Week one of my preparations for exams is complete and my anxiety about Victorian literature has reduced considerably. I did not accomplish as much as I wanted to but I am not exactly behind schedule, and the work I accomplished is high quality and satisfying. Today, while reviewing my week’s work and remembering last year’s exam prep, I realized one week per course is probably not realistic. But if I switch to a two-weeks per course timetable it will take my revision right up to my first exam, which feels a little risky. Here is the first time and material management puzzle to solve on the way to exams.
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Posted by caowrites
March 10, 2014
It is almost exactly eight weeks until my first exam. The schedule is printed and framed on my desk so there is no mistaking the timeline. Since the last few weeks have been so busy professionally, I have had to adjust my study plan. An hour each morning and an hour at night have been all the time available. I do not feel too far behind, but I also feel that I am a bit behind. This weekend I made some notes about how to manage the next four weeks then begin to revise in April.
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Posted by caowrites
February 10, 2014
October 2013 was a breeze when life at the University of London had just begun. By December 2013, the sails picked wind and the cruise sailed comfortably till the new calendar remained out of gaze.
On the morning of 1st January 2014, the hair on the head began experiencing an anti-gravity pull.
Responsibilities at work were piling, eating into valuable study time. Festivities and celebrations were becoming botherations.
A cricket commentator would say … the asking rate is rising; wickets are falling and overs getting exhausted without adequate runs on the board.
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1 Comment | LLB | Tagged: exam preparation, India, Kallol Kundu, KK, Kolkata, Law, LLB, study schedule, time management, University of London International Programmes | Permalink
Posted by KK
August 5, 2013
The well-deserved break is almost over and the next academic year is just around the corner. The break has been pure bliss which is why you haven’t had a blog post from me for a while. With what is left of the precious holiday, this is how I plan to make the best out of it.
1. Spend time with family and friends
My family and friends have suffered while I had my head buried on the books so I’ve made sure I have spent quality time with family and friends. I’ve taken trips with family, spent time giggling and gossiping with my girlfriends and not missed a single event I was invited to. It’s refreshing to spend time with your loved ones and makes up for all the times you’ve had to take rain checks because you were too busy attending lectures or cramming for exams. Besides, we have another academic year ahead of us, we need them to be patient and understanding while we are busy earning our degrees.
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Posted by sandarenua
May 1, 2013
One lesson I learnt from the last academic year is to plan better. I had this fool proof study schedule for this time; at least I thought I did. It had the number of hours, the areas to be covered and exactly what I hoped to achieve each day. I had planned the specific chapters from study guides to revise, pages I’d read from text books, cases I needed to find and read online and past paper questions I would attempt.
I had considered that I take longer to read Trust Law material than Tort Law, when allocating time for the subjects. I had tried to be as specific and practical as possible. I had considered all my personal and professional commitments. I was all set for the exams. Except there was one thing I had forgotten to consider in my schedule; Life. I had not realized that sometimes when we have a plan for life, life can have a different one for us.
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Posted by sandarenua
