How to Shake Off Pre-Semester Nerves
Whether it’s your first session or your last, we know pre-session nerves can strike at any time! These tips will help you put your best foot forward and enter the session stress free.
1. Plan & Prepare
Timetable
It’s important to be organised before your schedule gets busy. First, ensure your subject and timetable allocation is correct by accessing UTS myTimetable. New features on myTimetable such as waitlisting, swaps and deallocation make it easier than ever to get your preferred time or class. Also, with integrated learning options, you’re spoilt choosing between online or on-campus classes.
Subject Outline
Before Spring session kicks off, have a look through the UTS:Handbook for the previous sessions’ subject outlines. This is super handy if you’re wanting to get an idea of the type, weighting and timing of the assessments that will occur in your subject. Also get ahead by checking out what textbooks or resources are required.
2. Engage & Contact
Get Involved
Be sure to get involved with Orientation Day online! It’s designed to help you get the most out of your upcoming studies and prepare you for an awesome university experience. O’Day is a really fun event for everyone: regardless if you're a newbie or have been around for a couple of years.
Make Friends
The first few weeks of the session is the perfect time to connect with your new peers. Check out the start of session events held by your faculty and get socialising! While on-campus events are currently on pause , there are plenty of online opportunities for you to get involved with! This can include joining online activities held by clubs and societies. This can help you form study groups and also mean you’ll have friendly faces in your classes – which all definitely help in calming those nerves.
3. Explore & Ask
Practice Run
Is this your first session? Maybe the first one back in a while? Make sure you have your UTS Zoom Sign-In set up and an awesome virtual background ready to go! Being familiar with the learning systems will put you at ease, especially during the early days of session. If you’ll be on campus for essential activities, why not do a test run? Figure out how long the journey is and locate your new classroom (Building 11 has so many floors!).
Utilise Resources
Take some time to look into all the resources and services available to you before session starts and take advantage of what’s on offer. If you need some guidance, consider signing up for a peer mentoring program to connect with senior students in your faculty. If you need to brush up on some skills, enrol into any one of the many UTS Library courses and workshops.
If you need further support, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at any time. You can live chat to our student ambassadors and staff today.