• The final countdown:
  
  

  
  I’d like to thank everyone who helped me with my appeal. A gigamongous THANK YOU to Mum and Dad, Safeeyah, Mbali, Felix, Judy, Randle, Lindiwe, Tara, my doctor, my mentor, my lecturers and all my friends and family who supported me through the whole procedure .I really appreciate your belief in me and the opportunity to get a second chance at the one thing that I can describe as my passion.
  

  
  As I thank my lecturers, I sit with the delightful yet daunting task of preparing for the academic year ahead. I’m not only talking about the stationary shopping, the textbooks, the clothing, the registration or even the timetable. I’m talking about the mental preparation.
  

  
  What does one do to prepare for a year of studying?
  

  
  Well, if anything, I’ve learnt that it all comes down to time planning. Before campus begins, it’s always better if you have a plan what you are going to be doing during the year, in the vacations, during the days, and even during your tea breaks.
  

  
  Someone once told me that engineering involves studying in all your spare time, needless to say, effective studying is necessary.
  

  
  Here are a few things you might want to keep in mind:
  

  
  · Holidays:
  
  Generally, a semesters worth of work is enough to tire you out sufficiently and make you feel like never studying again. Sometimes, when mid-year examinations arrive you’re so pooped out that you don’t think you can go on. Make sure that you schedule a vacation, a getaway of some sort anything that will rejuvenate you during your mid-ear break and that you can look forward to. You DO want to go back refreshed.
  This being said, don’t forget about vacation work. Some companies are not open during the December vacation, so a certain amount of time has to be put in during the mid-year break. That’s quite nasty, especially if the vacation work is compulsory. Make extra sure if you are in this situation that you make a plan to get some “ME” time, a break, time out! Rest, sleep, alternative sports anything out of routine that you will enjoy.
  

  
  · Effective studying

  
  
  We’ve all experienced it. Sometimes you can study for an hour and learn absolutely nothing, while other times you can study the same work for half the time and know all that you need to. What’s the trick? A combination of wanting to learn the material, having a deadline and having the stamina.
  

  
  Give yourself targets. Reward yourself for meeting targets and punish yourself for not. Perhaps you need to read a chapter in Engineering Design and you only have an hour. Give yourself that hour to read, understand and recall the information. If at the end of the hour you have completed reward yourself with a candy bar or a siesta. If you do not complete the task…in true Survivor style…you lose your opportunity to go and watch that movie.
  

  
  · 20 hours +
  

  
  That is the time you’ll need to study, over and above all the time you put in on campus, in lectures, tutorials and laboratories. There is no getting out of it. No pain, no gain! Often you need to study 1 hour on your own for evry hour of lectures that you have .Roughly , that is 20!
  Make sure that your 20+ hours are mapped out even before you start the term begins. Don’t let anyone or anything interrupt that valuable time. Let everyone know that those are your study hours and that you would not like to be disturbed. It pays to be firm.
  

  
  · Study hard and play hard
  

  
  With all this chattering about studying, you’re probably hell bent on changing to a BA by now. Don’t worry; there is light at the end of the tunnel!
  I said in the beginning that everything is about planning. Well here’s one of those things you’ll love to put on your weekly calendar. A break! You really shouldn’t be labelled a textbook case. It’s embarrassing.
  

  
  I know of someone who works really hard the whole week, but absolutely refuses to lift a pen or look at a book on Sundays. He’s real smart. You’d be mad not to try his approach. Take an evening off, away from the world of engineering. Forget the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and the Hiroshima disaster just for a while. It will do you good! Make sure you schedule it though; we don’t need a re-run of the disasters either.
  

  
  · Be on time
  
  What can be more unappealing? Waking up before sunrise for a lecture you probably won’t understand because you were too busy yesterday with a project that you hadn’t diarised!
  

  
  The only way to know what is happening in class is to be on time .Be on time for lectures. Be on time with assignments .Be on time with tutorials. Be on time for tests and exams. Diarise everything. If somewhere during all of this you find the need for a personal assistant, do not despair – this is a lesson in life–skills. Oh and uh , buy a watch. Your cell phone just won’t do it, especially in examinations!
  

  
  · Keep your goal in focus
  

  
  My life-skills teacher insisted that we walk around with a goal card in our Matric Year. All of us, including me, thought it was ridiculous and a rather pointless exercise. We kept our little cards on us nonetheless and would keep it in front of us while doing work. The goal card had our aspirations for the present, the near future and the far off future. We never forgot what we wanted out of that year and those cards actually proved more valuable in helping us shape our futures. Needless to say, our year had the highest distinction rate the school had had until then.
  

  
  There are millions of other ways of getting your goal in focus. Find a way that suits you.

  
  
  · Sports
  

  
  Just something that you have to fit into your hectic schedule! It’s fun, relaxing, it gets your blood flowing and it gets oxygen to your brain-where you’ll need it the most!
  

  
  If you aren’t already part of a sports club or active in some way, start now!
  

  
  · Correct eating habits

  
  
  Just as important as sporting. A balanced diet means you have enough energy for your day, you can stay awake and concentrate and you don’t gain or lose weight unnecessarily.
  

  
  With all the studying that you are supposed to put in, you’re bound to burn a lot of fat. (Well at least your body uses a whole lot more of energy to keep your brain active.) Try to stick to natural, healthy foods. Stay away from foods with a very high sugar content, as it tends to give you a burst of energy and then a slump. Studying is not only mentally draining, but also physically. Make sure you eat the right foods by finding out more about it from a qualified practitioner.
  

  
  Group Work
  

  
  You can’t do everything on your own, and no one expects you to. Find study buddies to help keep you in check. Beware of the infamous attention seekers. They tend to disturb you rather than assist you.
  

  
  Working in a group is important, especially to an engineer who will be working with other people on just about every project they encounter. Learn to deal with them. It’s a biggie in this field.
  

  
  I know that all this information is quite overwhelming, but take it from me and my many years of bad planning; it’s worth every second if you get it right.
  

  
  Forward your thoughts and comments to mailto: naeema_@excite.com