You didn’t think getting a degree would be all fun and games, did you? I guess it was hard to anticipate that opening your laptop would result in a burst of unfinished essays, deadlines, coursework, lectures and seminars all screaming at you. ​

​Tiffany Igharoro shares what she learned from the pandemic about learning whatever the challenges.

It goes without saying, but Covid-19 has caused a nice little disruption in students’ education and wellbeing. From school closures to exam stress, we’re left floating in a void of uncertainty. What’s next? To help clear up the confusion, we share a few tips on how you can regain control, reduce anxiety and achieve your learning goals. ​

Cognitive reframing is a powerful and simple tool that each of us can use in every aspect of our daily lives – whether in education, the workplace, or our personal life. Cognitive reframing simply means changing our thoughts so that we are able to look at a situation in a slightly different way. Doing this, we’re able to make negative things become positive and gain more control over our lives. 

The Roman philosopher Cicero wrote about reframing over two thousand years ago, using a metaphor of an archer. 
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“One’s ultimate aim is to do all in one’s power to shoot straight, and the same applies with our ultimate goal. In this kind of example, it is to shoot straight that one must do all one can; none the less, it is to do all one can to accomplish the task that is really the ultimate aim. It is just the same with what we call the supreme good in life. To actually hit the target is, as we say, to be selected but not sought.”
[Cicero, De Finibus 3.6]

Have you ever wanted to be a bat? 

We’re not talking batman here – I have no advice about how to deliver vigilante justice. No, we’re talking about proper bats – cute little things with wings that scream until they find food. 
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Whilst I also scream until I get fed, I don’t find myself thinking about bats all that often. And when I do, I don’t think I have too much in common with them. 

It seems like I was wrong. Humans and bats have more in common than I suspected. 

It’s June, which is a horrifying thought – the longest day of the year is less than a week away! But other than existential angst, June also means that Universities are opening for applications. And they want applications. Your application. 
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There’s over 150 Higher Education Institutes in the UK and they offer around 100,000 courses. The choice is absolutely staggering and it’s very easy to get overwhelmed when choosing a uni. 

The resources that exist to help you choose are often just as bad – league tables with dozens of categories; you might in interested in knowing a university’s research quality but what does a research quality of 3.34 mean? 

Inspirational posters. 

You know the type I mean; an ultra-high definition picture of some mist-wreathed mountain peaks, or suspiciously attractive people laughing on a golden beach that’s just out of focus. The text is overlaid in a nice soft font; something like “Happiness comes from within.” 

It’s easy to look at such a poster, dismiss it as cliched nonsense, and go about your day. 

But often there’s some truth in these bland sayings. 
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Happiness, or better - satisfaction and contentment - does come from within, and we’re in danger of forgetting that. 

The 18th May is when you’re able to register and start your application to begin your undergraduate degree in 2022 ready to submit it from September 2021.

Now while the actual date you’d be starting seems like a lifetime away - If you could call 16 months a lifetime (and a quick internet search tells me that only some rodents can). It is never too early to start taking a look at two things.

​What you want to study and where you want to study it.

The two things are equally as important in your decision-making process so let’s take a look at each and what kind of questions you should be asking yourself as you begin to put together your UCAS application for next year.

The purpose of this article is to try and present learning in a new light – to show that learning can be a powerful and enjoyable tool for life. I’m not talking about any specific area of learning – this isn’t an argument that you should become an expert on the mating cycles of sea-slugs. 

​This may well seem like a strange concept – you might ask “why on earth would I want to love learning?” Learning is, after all, school and university, endless classes, exams and stress.  Isn’t it? 

No.