Summer’s here! But before you bound off to Malta or the Lake District …or that job in Sainsbury’s make sure you take note of these 4 things…
If you didn’t get the subtle hint this heatwave was sending – it’s summer! So in between enjoying your glasses of Prosecco on the Piazza steps and heading home for the holidays, consider these 4 tips:
1. Get your accounts in order
Sure, summer will be great and carefree. You’ll hit the beach, the clubs, the reduced section in Tesco. Every day will be a BBQ day and the Pimms will never stop flowing. Perhaps even a holiday to somewhere exotic?
But trust me, when you get back to campus and face that hefty library fine, your summer will be tainted with regret. You’ll be haunted by flashbacks of ‘A Political Legacy Of The British Empire’ slowly edging itself down the side of your bed. Don’t let this happen to you. The solution is simple: check your library account to make sure all your books are accounted for and that they’re renewed until the beginning of term 1.
You can find all the holiday renewal info here. Bring on that carefree summer.
2. Appreciate Warwick campus
How many times have you zoomed through Tocil Woods to make it to Life sciences? Walked through the Arts Centre but never actually been to see a show? Have you ever actually stopped and took the time to stand in awe of the Koan?
We have a really great campus here at Warwick, so now that exams are over you should take the time to appreciate it. Stroll off the beaten path and get lost in Tocil woods, use your student discount on a random showing at the theatre and spend some time admiring Warwick for the wonderful place that it is.
3. Get ahead
We wouldn’t really be a very good study blog if we didn’t mention study… Just remember, every hour you study during the summer is one less hour you’ll lose when term 1 begins. For those of you writing dissertations, the summer can be a great time to dip in and out of different topics and find one that really grabs you. For you sciencey types, make sure you keep brushing up on all those facts or you’ll have to spend the best part of October catching up and getting your brain in gear.
Now don’t feel like you have to lock yourself away in a dimly lit room to study. Take a book on holiday with you and settle into a little local café with a superb espresso. Grab a towel and head to the beach with a couple of informative podcasts. Or have some friends over for dinner and have an intellectual conversation, rather than discussing Binky’s love life on Made In Chelsea.
4. Think about how to make the most of your summer
You know how Joni Mitchell keeps banging on about how you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone? Then something about a p-p-parking lot? Well, turns out she’s right. Once you graduate and [hopefully] get a job, you won’t get any more 3 month holidays. I know.
So make sure you make the most of the summer. Don’t drown yourself in dissertation prep, but try reading a book completely unrelated to your course. Spend some time visiting friends around the world. Or just spend days on end in bed watching back-to-back Buffy the Vampire Slayer, rising only to grab another cream cheese bagel. The key to making the most of your summer is striking a balance between living in the moment and considering the long-term. Sort of like a prudent hedonist.
Happy holidays!
Images: Pimms O’Clock!/Isabelle/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Beach Reading/Anne Adrian/ CC BY 2.0
A sunny saturday on Ipanema Beach/Xavier Donat/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
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