​       Regardless of the year of study or the faculty we have chosen, we all face the challenges of student life, especially now, during the exam period. From balancing academic responsibilities and social activities to managing challenges and stress, every student goes through their struggle. As a peer who faces the same challenges as you, I believe that sharing personal experiences and useful strategies is significant for the success of each of us. Therefore, in this text, I share tips that have helped me study successfully and pass exams. I hope these tips will be supportive and inspirational on your student journey.

1. First and foremost, it is necessary to attend lectures regularly because you will learn many things beyond the textbook from the lecturers, such as some situations they have experienced during their long service in the field, which will help you prepare the content more easily for preliminary examination or exams. By attending lectures, you can also observe their professionalism in action.
 
2. Then, it is important to organize yourself well and utilize time in the right and more efficient way, which means that you will have some free time for relaxation at some point. You may encounter difficulties in organizing, so my advice is to use a planner and neatly select all tasks or simply jot them down in a notebook or sticky notes and always carry them with you. You can write down meetings, phone numbers, extracurricular activities, homework, etc. 

3. Also, it's crucial to get to know your professors better. You can look up their biographies on the faculty website or ask older students about each professor's teaching style and what exam-taking is like with them. 

4. Furthermore, it's very important to provide feedback and freely express your opinions, views, and interests during the teaching process, as you can awaken a sense in another participant in the interaction (in this case, the subject professor, but also colleagues) that they are following your work, listening to and understanding your presentation. This way, you can become recognizable and noticed. Speak freely because professors want to hear your opinion. The goal of the current teaching process is interactive work, not frontal. 
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5. Another important aspect of successful exam-taking is to complete all pre-exam obligations on time (seminar papers, presentations, research, etc.) because by respecting the deadlines set by the professor, you respect the professor and the time he/she dedicated to them to be achieved and done.

6. Another important thing is to fully fulfil set goals. Make an effort to fulfil a couple of promises and goals each semester that you have set for yourself. I don't just mean grades - but something that will make you happy and satisfied. These can be short-term or long-term goals. 
 
7. Also, when studying, it's important to learn to distinguish and extract essential information from less important data so that you don't get lost in the sea of information provided by literature. Also, structure all these units in a logical sequence that will be easy for you to adopt. 

8. Another piece of advice that can be helpful is to join a student organization or extracurricular activity that interests you. During these gatherings, you can make many friends with whom you can exchange your thoughts and experiences. 
 
9. Always be positive and smiling, even when you don't feel like it. Simply leave all the problems you have at the entrance of your educational institution. 
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10. Lastly, I want to emphasize the need to find balance. This means that after the exam period, you find your release valve for all the stress, nervousness, and sleepless nights you had until that period. Enjoy walks, your hobby, socializing with your close and dear ones...

If we spend too much time on social media which is often the case, our self-confidence decreases, whether it is because of a picture of someone’s straight As, a video of pristinely clean apartments, hours-long study sessions etc. Even though we are aware that it is staged and that our value is not only made up of grades, this kind of content makes us feel  less successful.

We talked about these topics with Lana Nikolić, a journalist and activist who, on her Instagram profile @lanushhh, advocates for the availability of knowledge, as well as selfcare and tenderness towards oneself in an unrealistic digital world.

How to use social networks in the right way, ie. not fall under their influence?
 
"It seems to me that when I was getting my bachelor’s and master's ten years ago social networks were less present - there were not yet so many smartphones and the access to the Internet was not available nor were there apps that made us spend longer periods of time on them. What I can say, from my experience, is that nowadays I sometimes spend more time on social media than I would want to, but I try to moderate the usage according to need, so that it is not mindless, but with a purpose and in a healthy amount, which is something I would recommend to everyone, however, it is a big challenge . Even though social media has great potential, it is important that we use it to change things for the better and that we pay close attention to how we feel while we use them, so that we can take a break in time if we need one.

It's okay to find yourself in different life stages that don't always look and feel positive, during which we are in the process of learning and getting to know ourselves, others, and our place in the world. We should give ourselves space and avoid comparing ourselves to others, because everyone is doing their best.
 
The best version of you does not exist, it is a complete illusion, all we can do is try to act ev towards the good and beautiful for ourselves and for society every day.
 
Our role is to discover our potentials and give them time to blossom, and it would be ideal if we could also look forward to other people's potentials and support them whenever we can, as far as the circumstances allow us to.”
 
How to deal with academic burnout and deadlines while studying? How to get rid of nervousness before the exam?
 
"I am looking for an answer to these questions myself, and for now I only have one - take it step by step, day by day. The search for knowledge is full of challenges and can be difficult, in those moments I believe it is best to seek the help of an expert such as a psychologist if it is a question of mental health, but of course, in relation to the material and professors, colleagues.
 
The most important thing is to have understanding for yourself and your processes, not to compare yourself with others and ask for support when we need it.
 
You learn a lot at university, but you’ll have time to improve your knowledge later. What I would like to say instead of fearing exams that we haven’t prepared ourselves enough for, we should instead cultivate curiosity towards knowledge and approach learning new things with joy. Acquiring knowledge is a really special process, it would be wonderful to give ourselves space and  be creative when we dedicate ourselves to it, as much as possible".
 
As exam dates are approaching, don't forget to take care of yourself, set realistic goals, take breaks and don't be afraid to ask for help. Good luck in the exam period!