University can be daunting. I discovered in my first trimester that there was suddenly a thousandfold of new things for me to learn so I could adapt to the system. One of my worries was how can I juggle working part-time while meeting countless deadlines?

Through a mix of pure grit and working smart, I exceeded my expectations and graduated as the valedictorian of The University of Newcastle, Australia (UON), class of 2019. Let me share some tips and tools I used to maximise my time as a student pursuing Bachelor of Communication so you can learn how to work smart instead of just working hard.

Make use of free academic journals

While UON’s online library has ample resources for your required readings, the university has also given institutional access to external digital libraries. Below are a few external libraries that I use often:

• JSTOR
• Taylor & Francis Online
• Springer

You may refer to the full list of external libraries that UON has granted institutional access to students.

All you need to do is type in the name of the journal you need access to or the topic you’re researching about and you will gain access to an abundance of resources.

Tip: I like to start my essays with a quote related to the topic at hand (and preferably said by an expert in that field), which you can easily find by searching your topic + the word “quote”. An example of a search term I’d use: “semiotics quotes”.

Save time with transcribing apps

If you're a communications student, you'd probably have to conduct interviews regularly and transcribe them afterwards. And transcribing is probably the bane of every communication student’s existence — it takes hours sometimes, especially if the interview is long and audio is unclear.

To save time, I prefer using a transcribing app or website to do the job for me.

Two popular transcribing options are:

• Google Speech-to-Text
• Otter

Note that since both Otter and Google Speech-to-Text were developed overseas, they are not usually adept at transcribing Singlish or our accent, but they are the most accurate ones I’ve found so far.

Tip: Make sure that you’re using a good mic and recording in a place with minimal background noise for the transcription app/website to be effective.

Use a citation/bibliography generator

Citing your sources using a specific citation style can be overwhelming, particularly if you’ve only ever referenced via direct backlinking. For me, it took some time to adapt to the American Psychological Association (APA) style used by UON, when I was previously taught to use the Modern Language Association (MLA) style in polytechnic.

To save time, I labelled the references I used in my essays and, at the end of the assessment, put the information and links into a citation generator which formats my bibliography for me. Two generators I found to be the most accurate and useful are:

• Cite This For Me
• EasyBib

Tip: I usually refer to Purdue Writing Lab to double-check the APA style, and put in any additional details that the generated bibliography might have missed out.

Approach a Teaching & Learning Adviser

To help bridge the gap between your previous educational institution and UON, the university has Teaching & Learning Adviser who will check your work for you and share advice on areas you can improve.

Tip: Finish your work at least two working days before the deadline so you have ample time to ask for help or do a thorough check before submission.

Track your progress with a GPA calculator

Australian universities use a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 7-point grading scale (i.e. your highest grade is 7.0) instead of a 4-point or 5-point that we are used to in Singapore. The UON has a nifty GPA calculator for students to know how well they’re performing.

Source: UON

All you need to do is key in your grades and your total number of units studied, and the calculator will do the rest for you.

Tip: To graduate with distinction at UON, you need a GPA of at least 6.0/7.0.

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Brought to you by PSB Academy. However, everything written above was based on my own experience.