One of the most overlooked but essential skills for success – at university and in life – is the ability to set realistic expectations. It’s not flashy. It doesn’t get headlines. But it shapes your energy, your confidence, your wellbeing, and ultimately your performance. As the semester unfolds, and the pressure of assignments, tests, and … 04 August 2025 – Setting Realistic Expectations: The Power of Perspective
Have you ever tried to build a jigsaw puzzle without the picture on the box? You open the packet, pour out hundreds of tiny pieces, and you’re immediately faced with chaos. The colours and shapes seem to have no meaning. It’s not that you’re unintelligent — it’s that you can’t see how the parts fit together. … 28 July 2025 – Understanding is like building a puzzle
The second term has started. Whatever happened last term is over and done with. You can either build on it, or if necessary, find a different way. Start in week 1 and use this brand new term to build a path to success in the end-of-year exams. University studies can feel dizzying and overwhelming, because … 21 July 2025 – Studying: Juggling Multiple Modules
One of these days you will be returning to university after the winter break. It may feel daunting! Take a deep breath and acknowledge how far you’ve come. This isn’t just the start of a new academic term. It’s another milestone in your journey. For many of you, university is about more than just education. It’s … 14 July 2025 – Back to School
If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here Last week we talked about that big dark shadow, fear of failure. The first step to overcoming it, we said, is to face it. Name it to tame it. What exactly are you afraid of? Define it. Then, secondly, focus on what you can control, and thirdly, take action. This week … 19 May 2025 – Beating Procrastination
If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here This week we’re talking deep stuff that few of us will acknowledge, even to ourselves, but most of us have experienced: fear of failure. That paralysing conviction that you’ll never be able to do this, whatever “this” is. You’ll never understand calculus, or the Middle English poem you have … 12 May 2025 – Fear of Failure
If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. We hear about misinformation and fake news every day. People lose money to scammers. It seems like you cannot trust anything or anybody. How can you know what to believe? How do you evaluate information? It may sound weird, but the first step is to trust yourself. Trust your common sense. That … 5 May 2025 – Handling Information 4: Evaluating Information – Staying Safe Online
If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. If you have been using the section on study methods in GRAD – your guide to university success, you will have come across the name of Dr Barbara Oakley. She’s the one who failed Mathematics in high school and yet became a professor of Engineering after she upgraded … 28 April 2025 – Working with AI to Study More Effectively
If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. We’re well into the academic year. Even those of you who had never met a computer before coming to university, know that computers and the digital world are an essential, very rich part of this new journey. Use it. Always try and learn more. As you get used to Excel … 21 April 2025 – Handling Information 2: Digital Literacy Using AI
If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll talk about information in all shapes and sizes. We’ll talk about digital literacy. We’ll talk about AI and how to use it to advance your studies. We’ll talk about staying safe online. But first, back to basics. You have to understand what comes your … 14 April 2025 – Handling Information 1: The Basics