The Return to Study Handbook

In grade school, you received extensive guidance and instruction, but college demands independent learning.

Your college tutors and lecturers won’t hold your hand. They will expect you to engage in self-directed learning without teaching you how to do so. While many students excel in this new environment, others flounder. To navigate third-level education successfully, you must commit to becoming self-motivated, organizing your time, using your own initiative to solve problems, focusing your attention, and amassing the discipline you will require to stay the course.

If you’re following a nontraditional path to further education – perhaps you’re a mature student, a part-time student who holds down a job, or a distance learner – you’ll need to establish these skills faster than full-time, campus-based learners. Mature students often find they have greater motivation, so inspiration and discipline may come easier. On the other hand, if you’re juggling study with work and family obligations, you’ll likely have to plan better. And if it’s been many years since you’ve studied, you may have forgotten many learning techniques. While distance learning grants students greater...