{"id":376,"date":"2019-02-05T12:20:07","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T10:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/?p=376"},"modified":"2019-02-05T15:27:13","modified_gmt":"2019-02-05T13:27:13","slug":"final-tips-for-final-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/final-tips-for-final-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Final tips for final years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Danai Nyagani & Charli Kasumba<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If the university years are \u201cthe best years of your life\u201d then you\u2019re doing life wrong. That however, should not stop you from making the most of it. So here are a few tips that will help you make the last stretch a little less stressful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start stuffing your CV<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Remember when we were in matric and people would say, \u201ca degree is the new matric\u201d? Today \u201cexperience is the new degree\u201d. You could be a PhD student and companies won’t even think twice without experience. Take advantage of all the opportunities that are available at SU: do short courses (if you can’t afford the course, ask the SRC for funding) or become a tutor\/invigilator\/library monitor\/waitron\/salesperson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is the time to leave your comfort zone<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is your last year as a student, or in fact as a carefree person, before adulting and black tax kicks into high gear. Time to flip the script \u2013 date your crush, attend a festival, get a tattoo. Whatever it is, do it fam, you have nothing to lose, full stop. Don’t focus on what people will say about it \u2013 life after uni isn\u2019t always glamorous. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about the future and start planning<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Gap year? Postgrad? Corporate? Start thinking about where you want to be this time next year and start taking the necessary steps. Start applying for jobs, scholarships and degrees. You will be surprised how quickly a year goes by. If you can\u2019t find something that speaks to your soul, start your own thing. Always remember: own race, own pace. Your time will come.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pay it forward<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Stellenbosch is a challenging place, and making it out of the colony in one piece is an achievement and a half. Find a way to share the knowledge that you\u2019ve learnt. Share your contacts, opportunities and life hacks. Share your experience \u2013 you don’t know how your advice could make a first year\u2019s experience more bearable and certainly more memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mental check<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Psychological services and supportive spaces are extremely expensive and hard to come by. One of the small perks about being at university is that there is easy access to mental health services. There is immense pressure for you to succeed, and you need to be mentally prepared. Try your best to make use of these because it\u2019s better to deal with your skeletons (those that are known and otherwise) now while you have the support before you enter the cruel world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find your own way of escape<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Final year can be the best year of your university experience, however it very easily could be one of the most stressful. While it may not seem essential, it\u2019s important to find a way to cope with the demands of the academic year. It should be mentioned that your escape route should not be something that is detrimental to your academic success (stress drinking has never been a good idea). Escape activities could take the form of reviving a lost passion for the arts, exercising or reading non-academic materials. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help your classmates out<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is self-explanatory but it is surprising how many final year students believe that they are in competition with their friends. Fam, we\u2019re all in the same struggle \u2013 we all want to graduate in December (or March) and do well after university is over. By keeping your knowledge to yourself, you determine the level of difficulty you are willing to experience on the road to that graduation ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have the right group of friends<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By now you should be able to decipher which of your friends actually care about their academics and which are in university for the parties (and really want to be permanent students). Avoid the latter as much as possible once the academics become demanding. Don\u2019t get us wrong, your party friends are probably the coolest people you know, but make sure to surround yourself with friends who will motivate you to put your best foot forward this year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make Things Happen<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I know, it sounds like a motivational catchphrase – and that\u2019s exactly what it is. Before all the junk of the next stage of life begins to creep in, take time out to look back on this one. Take stock of the goals that you didn\u2019t accomplish and start setting the foundation to fulfill them.
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Danai Nyagani & Charli Kasumba If the university years are \u201cthe best years of your life\u201d then you\u2019re doing life wrong. That however, should not stop you from making the most of it. So here are a few tips that will help you make the last stretch a little less stressful. Start stuffing your CV […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[81],"tags":[47,84,36,83],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cole-keister-291568-unsplash.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa0nwP-64","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":381,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ilizwi.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}