Having spent the better part of 20 odd years in education, it is unsurprising that I have developed some tips and tricks to help make a good start of the term. So here is a short list of things I would suggest to help you start off your new term on the right foot!

Talk to people

If you are new to BU, and even if you aren’t, use the first week to talk to people and make new friends. Nearly everyone who is starting out and new is nervous in the first week, and it is a great time to say hello and make new friends. Networking doesn’t have to be difficult!

Get your ducks in a row

This is the time to be thinking about dissertations (if you haven’t already). Here at BU we have one week of fresher’s, and so most courses don’t go full throttle until October. So now is the time to really sit down and think about what you want to do for a dissertation and start asking around. It is early, but the extra time you will get will be invaluable come the end of the year.

Start your reading now

Most courses have a reading list up already on myBU. Start. Seriously! I have to confess I wasn’t good at keeping up with reading in my undergraduate course. But at Master’s level you can’t play things free and easy. Reading is key, so get into a good habit now and it will serve you well later into the term.

Make a game out of boring tasks

Hear me out. Some of the stuff we have to do in a degree can be rather dull. But our brains love getting rewards. So why not put the two together? I have drawn up a chart with 30 tick boxes for each task that I need to accomplish a day. As you can see this includes various pieces of coursework and reading for each unit. When I tick off 12 boxes (any 12) I can get a hot chocolate. 24 and it is a subway. If I manage to do 72 ticks then I can buy any second hand book I like. I have yet to try this method out, but if it worked as a kid no reason it shouldn’t as an adult. And it gives a valid excuse for new books (and pizza – 60 ticks!).

Go to lectures

Even the induction ones. It might seem like a waste of time, but you meet people and get invaluable information. And if your course starts straight away you can’t afford to miss lectures!

Hopefully these are all things you are thinking about already, and will set you up for a great year!