As I walked in to work this morning, I was thinking what I could write for this week’s blog post and as I reached the brow of the hill on Stocker Road I saw many students arriving and crowding outside the Great Hall ready for their first lot of exams, many with post-it notes, highlighters and text books in hand ready for that last minute bit of exam preparation. It got me thinking that during these times of revision and exam stress, you will all adopt different ways of learning and these different methods could impact on the wellbeing of our flatmates around us and their learning styles could affect us also.
When I was at university, I was someone who needed to lock myself away in absolute silence (or else I would almost definitely start singing along to the radio). I needed to take regular breaks in order to stop myself from getting a sore back from hunching over text books and also to get some fresh air in order to refocus. My housemate on the other hand was the complete opposite of me. She needed to listen to music and would often repeat her revision notes constantly in order to remember them. This would create noise within an environment that I needed to be quiet.
If concerns are appearing due to noise levels then why not arrange a flat meeting to discuss your concerns with your flat mates? The Residence Life Team are on hand if you need any support with these meetings because they will have all gone through it too. You could use it as a time for all of your flat mates to come together and determine what needs to happen in order for you to have a stress-free living situation.
Make sure that you use the facilities available to you on campus if you need to focus and revise away from your accommodation. When the weather is nice, there are a number of outdoor areas for you to sit and read plus the fresh air does a great deal for our minds during stressful periods. Why not visit the grounds of Reed Hall and sit yourself on one of the benches looking at the hillsides or take yourself to one of the ponds on campus?
The on campus libraries are available throughout the day with the Forum Library open 24/7. If you’re someone who doesn’t mind the hustle and bustle of people around you and needs music to focus you could put your earphones in quietly and sit yourself in the library for an afternoon.
Our Wellbeing team have divised some excellent exam anxiety management techniques and have provided information on how to keep calm during exams. If exercise is what you need in order to de-stress then don’t forget that the Cornwall House swimming pool by Lafrowda is now open and available to all students. Please visit the Sports Park website for further information on opening times and prices.
Some of you may notice that there are various donation points being set up across campus this week for those students looking to donate any unwanted items to the British Heart Foundation as part of our ‘Moving On‘ campaign. This campaign has been a success for the last couple of years and is a great time for you to tidy up your room and de-clutter ready for the end of term. Please see our website for further information.
May I take this opportunity to wish those of you with exams GOOD LUCK!
Accommodation Catherine