Ten Rules For A Successful Student

Many students are forced to combine work and study. Anna Zhuravleva knows how you can do it as efficiently as possible.

Ten Rules For A Successful Student

As you know, living in Moscow and Saint Petersburg is quite expensive for those who come there to study. Therefore, many students are forced to combine work and study to make their parents’ life easier or just to have extra money and to be less dependent.

Today we will look at 10 tips for students on how to manage work and study.

It is necessary to weigh all the pros and cons. Think about whether you need extra income, whether you can work effectively and keep up in the educational process? If yes, then you need to differentiate work and study as much as possible so that one process doesn’t interfere with another one.

You also need to make sure that your timetable really allows you to work. Also assess the situation from the teachers’ point of view: what is their attitude to working students, whether there is an opportunity to participate with other groups and so on. If your study is to the detriment of work, or vice versa, it is obvious that none of them will be well-performed.

When looking for a job try to rely on your own interest. It’s clear that sometimes circumstances don’t allow you to find a really interesting job, but the more pleasure you will get from it, the more serious will be your approach to it.

It is important to analyze the place of work from the point of view of logistics. If you need to combine work and study in one day, then find out how quickly you can get from one place to another, as well as how long the road will take.

Be sure to discuss with your employer your conditions as a working student: whether you will be provided with study leave during your exams or whether a floating schedule or part-time employment is possible. Remember that your possible excuses about sudden exams or about lots of homework will be negatively perceived.

Organize your priorities. You always need to understand in favor of what you will have to make a choice, if you would suddenly have to. At the same time, all people are individuals and their situations are unique, so we cannot give direct advice on what you should give up.

Plan your time. A free work schedule won’t discipline you, so it’s important to make it a rule to do everything on time (both at the university and at work), but not to do everything at the last minute – a three-hour sleep has never been good for anyone.

Remember about your health! You're on your own and your health is your most valuable resource. If you ruin your health, you won’t be successful neither at the university, nor at work. Sometimes if you feel the need, it is worth being lazy: take time off from work and skip your classes to relax and recover. Sometimes it’s useful but too frequent absence won’t benefit your studies or career.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help from colleagues. Remember that there are no hopeless situations and your shyness won’t help you to solve your problem. Many people like to help others, they feel their importance and usefulness in such situations. See if your colleagues are like that.

Remember, you can always stop! You can give up one thing in favor of another one, and if there is such a need, then it must be done because it is only your life and you shouldn’t get ahead of yourself.

All the best!

Text by
Anna Zhuravleva