How to nail your first year of uni

If you’re feeling apprehensive about starting uni, the good news is you’re not alone. Nailing your first year on campus is achievable and help is always on hand.

Brush up your skills

It’s not always easy to ask for help, but our academic skills development team has a lot of experience helping students unlock their potential – and your first year is the best time to take advantage of their expertise.

Sign up for a workshop, make your way through their helpful online resources, reach out to the team via email, drop into their office or book an in-person consultation.

You can find help with your time management, learn how to set study priorities and improve your planning skills. They also offer help with math and numeracy skills and have plenty of tools and tips to share about managing exam stress.

A little help from your friends

While there’s less hand holding at uni compared to high school, that doesn’t mean we don’t offer plenty of support services to help you along the way. If your timetable includes a challenging unit that’s known to be stumbling block for many students, sign up for a Peer Assisted Study Session (PASS).

PASS is free, voluntary and we keep the group numbers low so your questions will always be heard. Best of all, it’s run by senior ACU students who’ve already been there, done that, and are familiar with the subject.

Get involved

Uni isn’t all lectures and cramming for exams. Having fun and meeting new people is all part of the experience. And the best way to expand your social network is to put your hand up and get involved.

Shivani Vummidi is a speech pathology student who is an ACU student ambassador, holds down a job in her campus library and has volunteered at countless events.

“By becoming involved with everything that’s going on, you have the opportunity to meet so many new people,” she said. “Join some of the clubs and societies, volunteer at events like Orientation or Open Day or get a job on campus. Plus, thanks to my student ambassador work, I’ve become more confident with public speaking and doing presentations in front of a large audience.”

There’s something for everyone to get involved with on campus. And if you can’t find a club that’s quite right for you, you can always apply to start a new group yourself.

The right way to write

Many students come to ACU feeling uncertain about their writing skills, especially if you’ve been out of high school for a while. You might even have heard you have to do this mysterious thing called ‘referencing’ at uni but are not fully aware of all that it entails. If this is you, you’re not alone.

Our Academic Skills Unit is on hand to bring you up to speed with what it takes to produce a university-level essay. In their writing workshops you’ll come to understand the different referencing systems we use at ACU and you’ll be feeling confident turning in your first assignment.

Get to know the Library           

The time to get to know the Library is when your first semester begins. Whether you’re browsing the online databases on a laptop at home or searching the stacks for that book you need, our campus libraries are powerful tools for teaching, learning and research.

 

Look into the Library Guides, which are compiled by your librarians to help you find the most useful resources for your subject, read through past exams for your units, or book a group study room to collaborate with other students.

Find out more about student life at ACU to nail your first year on campus.