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8 Tips to help you study better

 

Any student will tell you how stressful it can be to find the time and patience to study for a big exam. It is, however, an incredibly important part of the process of studying, which means that everyone needs to understand how to do it effectively if they are planning on being successful as a student at any level.

 

Here are a few tips that will help you cope with your exam preparation, and will teach you how to effectively study any material in front of you.

 

1.     The first thing you’ll need to do is understand when and where you are able to study. Some people cannot study without absolute silence, other prefer having music playing and other people around, perhaps in a coffee shop or a common room. Find what works for you and let it help you focus.

 

2.     When studying, you cannot afford to get lost in the details from the get go. Make sure you are able to understand the main topics you are dealing with and get the gist of the arguments being made before settling in and learning the details.

 

3.     You need to have a structured study plan, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give yourself some leeway. Take some breaks and rearrange your study periods, but don’t allow yourself to skip any sessions without a good reason.

 

4.     Take some breaks in between your study sessions to quiz yourself. You can find tests online to see if you’re on the right track, or you can make yourself a set of flash cards to create a mini quiz.

 

5.     When you’re prepping, don’t be afraid to ask questions to your lecturers or teaching assistants to clarify any problems you may have. Remember the old adage: there are no stupid questions!

 

6.     Many people find that they are able to study more effectively in a group. If you’re planning on forming a study group, find a group of people who are actually serious about doing well in the upcoming test. If you get stuck with someone who isn’t serious, they will do everything they can to distract you and get out of having to do any real work.

 

7.     Even if you think you are the kind of person who is able to cram a lot of studying into a short space of time, the best way to do it will be to space out your studying. This way you will give yourself more time to actually understand the work at hand, and you will avoid any stress that comes with staying up all night right before the test to perhaps learn one more little piece of information.

 

8.     Study a little bit every day for about 10 days before the test, depending on how much content you have to get through. This way you give yourself a way to keep the information fresh in your memory every day, and you will constantly be thinking about it. Once it becomes habit in this way, chances are you won’t forget it for a very long time.

 

Written by Wesley Geyer 

The Life and Work of Roald Dahl

Almost every child in the world has seen, heard of, or read one of Roald Dahl’s books. As a children’s author he is perhaps one of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach are two of the most recognizable and read children’s stories in the world.

Roald Dahl started out working for the Shell Petroleum company before becoming a successful and prolific fighter pilot in World War II, having taken part in the famous ‘Battle of Athens’after recovering from a near fatal crash in the Egyptian desert. Once he moved back to Britain, he became an intelligence officer, and was responsible for gaining favour with the American politicians and armed forces in order to convince them to aid the war efforts against the German Forces.

His first book ‘The Gremlins’paid homage to the folklore that was prominent in the Royal Airforce, when pilots would blame the mythical Gremlins for the problems they found in their planes. The book was in development for Disney, but a feature length film never materialized. Some of his other prominent works, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and James and the Giant Peach did eventually become some of the most popular movies in their times. His children’s book ‘The BFG’(Big Friendly Giant), which eventually became an animated movie, was written in honor of his daughter Olivia, who passed away at the age of 7 to measles.

Roald Dahl, perhaps more than any other writer during his time recognized the value of reading and telling stories, especially for children. His stories are used as tales for teaching lessons, and while they sometimes border on dark humor, always carry messages with them that can be used practically and philosophically all the way into adulthood.

Dahl passed away at the age of 74 in 1990 due to a blood disease. He has been honored a number of times in various ways, most notably with the Roald Dahl Children’s Gallery in November 1996 at the Buckinghamshire County Museum near where he was born.



Written by Wesley Geyer

Five female writers all women should read

In the last six years, three of the five Pulitzer Fiction Prize winners have been women, the latest of which, earlier in 2014 broke records by reaching the New York Times bestsellers list in the first week of her book’s release.



Donna Tartt, famous for being a prolific author, often taking many years to complete a single book (her Pulitzer Prizewinning book “The Goldfinch, having taken around 11 years) is the latest in a long list of successful and innovative women in the field of literature, and there is a whole host of women whose work deserves to be taken seriously in 2014 and beyond.



Emma Donoghue



This Irish-born author and playwright has recently found international fame with her Bestseller ‘Room’, which tells the story of a five year old buy who has been imprisoned in a  room with his mother for his entire life. Her latest book ‘Frog Music’was released earlier in 2014, and has earned her a place on Time’s list of female authors to watch in 2014.



Zadie Smith



In 2000, Smith was lauded as one of the brightest young novelists of the 21st century, and though it was early days, her first book called ‘White Teeth’earned a spot on Time’s 100 Best English Language Novels of the last 100 years, and has seen her compared to Charles Dickens and John Irving.


Penelope Fitzgerald


Winner of the Booker Prize for her final novel titled ‘Blue Flower’, and widely regarded as one of the best English writers of the last century, Fitzgerald has incredible power and the imagery and context crammed into her often short novels will make any reader feel like they've gotten more than their money’s worth.



Isabel Wilkerson


Another Pulitzer Prize winner for her critically acclaimed non-fiction work ‘The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration’tells the real life story of the individuals who lived through the migration.


Lionel Shriver


In 2005, Shriver’s novel ‘We Need to Talk About Kevin’won the famed Orange Prize for Fiction, and was later adapted into a feature film starring the likes of Tilda Swinton and John C. Reilly. She has since released four novels and remains active as an award winning journalist.




Written by Wesley Geyer


Creative Writer

Dr Maya Angelou – A phenomenal woman

Dr Maya Angelou, writer and civil rights activist was born on April 4^th, 1928 in St. Louis, Missouri. She is well-known for her memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which was published in 1969 and made literary history by being the first nonfiction best-seller written by an African-American woman.


Her poetry collection Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water ‘Fore I Die was published in 1971 and was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in that same year. She has received numerous honors throughout her career, amongst those two NAACP Image Awards in the category for outstanding literary work (nonfiction), which was awarded to her in 2005 and 2009 respectively.





Dr Maya’s talents include being an author, actress, screenwriter, dancer and poet. She was born with the name Marguerite Annie Johnson and at a young age her parents split up, which led to her growing up with her brother at their father’s mother in Arkansas.


Here she was exposed to racial prejudices, discrimination and at the age of 7 she was raped by her mother’s boyfriend. After the rape, her uncles killed the boyfriend and the whole process led to such intense trauma that Angelou spent several years in Arkansas as a virtual mute.


In 1944, at the age of 16 Angelou gave birth to a son, Guy, which saw her working a number of jobs to support both herself and her child. 8 years later, she married a Greek sailor called Anastasios Angelopulos and this led her to her professional name which is a blend of her childhood nickname “Maya” and a shortened version of her husband’s surname.


In the mid 1950’s her performance career began to take off with several roles in touring productions, off-Broadway productions and the release of her first album in 1957 called Miss Calypso.


She also became a member of the Harlem Writers Guild and started her work as civil rights activist by organizing and starring in the musical revue Cabaret for Freedom as a benefit for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She spent much of the 1960’s abroad, living first in Egypt and then Ghana, where she held a position at the country’s university.


Upon her return to the United States, a friend and fellow writer called James Baldwin, urged her to write about her life experiences. This resulted in the 1969 memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which saw her become an international star.


She has continued to break new ground and wrote the drama Georgia, Georgia in 1972, becoming the first African-American woman to have her screenplay produced. She later earned a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Look Away  in 1973 and in 1977 she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on television series Roots.


Angelou’s later successes include the following:


·         All God’s Children Need Travelling Shoes (1986 – autobiography)


·         A Song Flung Up to Heaven(2002 – autobiography)


·         Directing Down in the Delta (1998)


·         Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now(1994 – essay collection)


·         Great Food, All Day Long(2010 – cookbook)


·         And many more not mentioned here





On Angelou’s birthday in 1968, a close friend  Dr Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated and many years after this incident she stopped celebrating her birthday and instead sent flowers to King Jr’s widow, Coretta Scott King until her death in 2006. Angelou was also good friends with TV personality Oprah Winfrey who organised many a birthday celebration for her.


After a few years with health issues, Maya Angelou died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on 28 May 2014, a tragedy that shocked many and even prompted a statement from President Barack Obama in which he called her “a brilliant writer, a fierce friend and a truly phenomenal woman.” He wrote: “Angelou had the ability to remind us that we are all God’s children, that we all have something to offer.”

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Book Review

Book Review

Book: The Fault in Our Stars
Author: John Green

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green’s heart-wrenchingly beautiful novel about a teenage girl and boy who meet at a cancer support center. The novel has already won emotional accolades from readers and reviewers."

- Barnes & Noble