If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. Here’s a rude wake-up call on a Monday morning: there are only three months left before the final exams. But … breathe out, relax, it is very doable. Your course was designed to fit into this window of time. All it takes is for you to do your part. Here’s what a … 10 August 2026 – The Boring Essentials: Structure and Discipline

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. In your coursework, you are often confronted with big, intimidating blocks of information. Especially if you’re not a great reader, it may feel overwhelming and impossible. But just as we suggested in our discussions of how to use your study time, things become more manageable if you break it … 3 August 2026 – Understanding is like building a puzzle

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. Early in this second semester I want to give you something to stick up above your desk to think about every time things feel overwhelming. It’s a line from the wonderful poem Desiderata: “Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.” The first semester may have been hard. Having come from … 27 July 2026 – Setting Realistic Expectations

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. At the beginning of this new term I want to make a rather startling point: your phone, without which you feel so lost and cut off, can actually be a roadblock to your dream career. “What???!” you say. Well, let’s unpick it.  In the time of AI, your degree … 20 July 2026 – Your Phone can be a Career Roadblock

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. 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 … 13 July 2026 – Back to School

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. You’re on holiday at the moment, blissfully free of all the tensions and stresses of campus life, but soon you will be going back and you may once again feel like the poor girl in our picture. Sorry for the reminder! There is an upside, though. You have time … 06 July 2026 – A Recipe for Coping with Stress

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. A reminder: Tomorrow 30 June is the closing date of the GRAD – your guide to university success quiz. Please follow this link to answer the quiz questions and give us honest feedback on the value of the material in the guide and the weekly Thought for the Week. You will stand … 29 June 2026 – With Time to Spare: Clearing a Tangle and Thinking about Goals

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. (This one is slightly different from the usual, more personal and emotional. Try listening.) It’s holiday time, and many of you are going home for the first time since leaving to come to university. As you pack your bags, take a moment to pause and breathe. In this year, starting your … 22 June 2026 – Going Home

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. You’re halfway through your exams, and you’re exhausted. You must find the strength and the energy – the GRIT – to keep going in the last stretch. How does one do that?! Prof Angela Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania in America wrote a book called “GRIT: The Power … 15 June 2026 – GRIT

If you’d rather listen to this newsletter, click here. It’s exam time, often a time of stress and tension. Next week we’ll give you some support in dealing with that stress and finding the grit you need to get you through, but for now it’s about the practical stuff: how to give your absolute best when you sit … 08 June 2026 – Writing Exams with Confidence