Welcome to part one of our Student Advisor ‘A Day in the Life’ blog series. Exam season can be stressful with coffee fuelled mornings and last minute study sessions. But never fear, your Student Advisors are here to share their wisdom and guidance to help you conquer your assessments. So, settle in as Amelia and Lewis tell you all about a typical ‘day in the life’ as they prepare for their own exams and assessments and reveal their top tips for fostering good study habits.

Desk with various study items on it including laptop, bulldog clip, coffee cup, sticky notes and tub with paper clips in. Someone is also writing in a notepad. You can only see their hands and they are holding a pen.

Amelia Betts – 1st year BA (Hons) Primary Education with QTS

Student Advisor Amelia Betts

Hi, my name is Amelia, and I am currently in my first year of Primary Education with QTS.

Some things about me are that I have done an archaeological dig; I love painting and I do a lot of jewellery making. I absolutely love cooking; I’m trying to master dumplings at the moment. On top of this, my favourite thing to do is spend time with my friends and flat mates, such as going to concerts, going out for dinner in Ormskirk or just watching movies in our flat. We also like to attend Edge Hill organised trips such as their Ikea trips, and various other opportunities they offer such as crafty activities on Saturdays.

As well as this, I am a Student Advisor. I am excited to help students with academic support, library support and overall guidance. I will also be involved in the UniSkills workshops to help support students get the most out of these sessions. I will provide this support by answering further questions and providing useful links to the Edge Hill website. I took on this role because I know firsthand how overwhelmed I felt in September, with my first assignment and so forwards so I wanted to provide some extra support to help some students with these challenges.

Some of my personal hacks to keeping on top of my workload is my diary. I take this everywhere with me and it helps me to keep track of everything I have going on. I also plan what I will do with my time, such as if I have an assignment due in two weeks, I will plan what I need to accomplish every day until it is complete. This helps take away any last-minute stress. In addition to this, I try and complete things as soon as possible so that they do not stack up, this drastically helped me manage my workload. But overall, what I found as the most important for managing my workload was breaks. University is a time of studying and academic achievement but that is not all, get involved in as many social events as you can to give your brain a break. This helps to avoid burning out and provides a nice work and social life balance.

Lewis Underwood – 3rd year BA (Hons) History

Hello, my name is Lewis Underwood and I’m one of your Student Advisors here at Edge Hill. As a current third year history student, my days often involve lots of studying and coursework so it’s important for me to find a good work-life balance. In this blog, I will detail what a day in my life entails and in doing so will hopefully give you some inspiration for your own personal study habits.

I usually wake up at around 8:30 where I then have a tea and breakfast to start my day. After this, I will usually go on a walk, often through Ruff Woods and then onto campus. However, if the weather is miserable, I usually have to miss out on the walk! I personally like to listen to a podcast on the walk as it helps wake me up and start the day right.

After I return from my walk I often like to go to the gym on campus. For me, physical exercise is one of the most important elements of my day-to-day life as it is not only a physical benefit but is also a great help for my mental health. Exercise puts me in the right headspace to study and get stuff done in my day and without it I often struggle to find the motivation to work on what I need to do.

After a good hour or so in the gym I head back home and make lunch. One of my favourite meals to have for lunch are super noodles with a fried egg on top, both easy to make and delicious. I then head to the Catalyst for around 2:00pm and set up on the silent study floor in one of the study booths.

My study sessions often revolve around the essay writing process as a history student, whether that be reading and research or the actual essay writing and editing itself. Whilst studying, I like to listen to music and have a specific study session playlist that keeps me both focused and motivated. I also like to grab a coffee at the start of my study session, often opting for a regular latte, which gives me much needed energy after a busy morning! I often employ the Pomodoro technique whilst studying which I feel allows me to get more work done and to a higher quality than I achieved before I adopted the technique. I often study for around 2-3 hours before heading home and clocking off from uni work until the next day!

Student Advisor Lewis Underwood

Hope you have enjoyed reading Amelia and Lewis’ blog. For more study tips check out the Getting Organised web pages where you can find out more about effective time management, including the Pomodoro technique.

Good luck with your exams and assessments!