Our student writer's final words for 2018

My last tip for university

My university series consisted of articles that explained the do’s and don’ts of varsity but moreover they explained the technical terms and lingo of varsity. However, I do need to mention one last immaculate detail: one needs to really enjoy university.

In the mist of all the work that needs to be done, the deadlines to be meet and the maintenance of a social life, to enjoy varsity is one important factor to value and stress on.

Enjoying varsity for me really lies in finding out stuff about you, linked to your surroundings. Doing what pleases you, be it hiking or taking walks or playing monopoly. It merely lies in the fact of finding time for yourself. Getting enough amounts of sleep. Relaxing and connecting with thyself.

For some varsity students, this may sound impractical but let us explore the factor of enjoyment with some random facts linked to this. Firstly, a Harvard study estimated that sleep deprivation costs Ameri-

can companies $63.2 billion a year in lost productivity. In the context of university, sleep deprivation on an individual level may translate to blackouts, missing class or even worse; tests. Not that either of them are not detrimental in effect.

Secondly, Stanford researcher Cheri D. Mah found that when she got male basketball players to sleep 10 hours a night, their performances in practice dramatically improved: free-throw and three-point shooting each increased by an average of 9 percent.

Additionally, more vacations are similarly beneficial. In 2006, the accounting firm Ernst & Young did an internal study of its employees and found that for each additional 10 hours of vacation employees took, their year-end performance ratings from supervisors (on a scale of one to five) improved by 8 percent. Frequent vacationers were also significantly less likely to leave the firm.

The introduction of the enjoyment factor in varsity does allow you to create your own vacation. However, it is safe to say that students must be significantly more likely to leave varsity as it is their aim to graduate after all.

Truth be told, as much as I would love the enjoyment factor to pitch up the day before a test or before an assignment due date, it is virtually bad advice. Time management is then crucial; it is after all ‘finding’ time for yourself. Reward yourself on work done and not to be done. Enjoy varsity whilst doing what you are there for. This is definitely advice I would have loved to hear before I got to university.

Masiziba Hadebe.