I often think of University being a bit like a boxing match. Now trust me, I am going somewhere with this…

We have wonderfully long summers during which deadlines, 9AM lectures and revision all gently drift away. Then BAM. You’re back at University. Alarms wake up disheveled students at an hour they’d usually consider the middle of the night. Big red dates are pencilled into the calendar to mark a deadline which you realise is actually approaching much faster than you thought, and, on opening the handbook it hits you that you’re going to have to be reading 90% of the time you are awake if you are to finish all the readings for your course. Oh, and on top of all that, you somehow have to churn out a dissertation. Knocked to the floor – University One, Student Zero.

Now in a boxing match fights can end within seconds. Sometimes a punch can be so overwhelming that it is simply not possible to make a comeback. Entering your final year can feel like this, but we aren’t amateur boxers here. Oh no. We have made it through freshers, we have made it through second year and now it is time to make it right through to graduation. Cue round two.

You have to have a game plan

Go to the corner, sit down, and take a long gulp of water. Gather yourself together. Focus. You have to be clever if you are to take on the challenge of third year and like any great boxer, you have to have a game plan. In boxing terms, to clinch is to hold your opponent so they cannot throw punches. That’s what you have to do with University. Put your work in a clinch so that nothing can make you wobble. How do you do that? Well, a schedule is a pretty good place to start.

First of all get a calendar and mark out all the dates that you have an exam or assignment due. This will help you to prioritise work that has a deadline approaching. Next, work out what needs doing for each assignment. Break up the work and set yourself targets of getting a certain amount done each week (try to give yourself more time rather than cutting it tight).

Now you have a plan. This will be your life line, the boxing glove that softens the blows. But you’re not done yet. Phase two is getting yourself into a routine. Try to get up between 8AM and 9AM everyday and before you know it your body clock will have adjusted and this will feel normal. You’ll find you have so much more time to get all your work done if you get up at a decent time each morning and then you’ll still be able to go out and party in the evenings!

Keep on top of that schedule, stick to that routine and all of a sudden University will be yours for the taking. A boxing champion is the competitor who excels all others. That, my friend, can be you.

Carys Reid-Davies