Student Life Abroad
Managing Assignments While Finding Your Feet in a Foreign Land? Get expert tips to balance studies & settle abroad with ease.Let’s face it, now. As you were completing your university form, you envisioned what you would do with your degree, what opportunities you would have, and what would be on your passport. You may not have thought about sitting in isolation at midnight in a very small apartment, wondering what the bloody hell they want you to do, “critically analyse,” when you were at home, you could just memorise it and get it out there like it was supposed to be. Being an Indian student in a foreign country is an amazing experience. It is otherwise, however, quite difficult. Your professors still expect you to turn in your 3,000-word essays, lab reports and group projects on time, amid all that cultural shock, the food, the loneliness, and somewhere in the middle of all that emotional chaos. No more cultural shock periods! No exceptions for missing home. This blog isn’t going to tell you a productivity recipe or formula that you can use to be a robot. It’s going to speak to you like a senior who’s done the same — straight and honest and give you some advice, and a little reminder that you’re going to be okay. When you’re dealing with a problem, it’s important to know what you’re up against.It is important to know what you are up against when facing a problem. We should first discuss what’s going on in your brain and body when you arrive in the new country. It is known as “adjustment stress” by psychologists, and “less polished” stress by students. At the same time, you’re learning a new system of study, a new culture to live in, a new time zone, a new climate, new food (or lack of food) and the emotional burden of being away from all those who love you. It’s no small feat. That is a lot. Finally, it’s like when you have all that on your shoulders, writing a research paper is like heaven, 10 times harder. Many students from India tend to do pressure-based learning as if they are not going through something important, just to get it done: I’ll not let my parents spend their money on me for nothing if I fail. It’s a very real and a very understandable pressure, but it’s not a sustainable engine. You can’t build real systems; you can’t operate on anxiety. Something to remember: The process of adjustment isn’t a week-long one. According to the research, it takes most international students 3-6 months to feel settled. Have a kind word for yourself during that period. You are not behind. You are adjusting. The Academic Culture Shock Nobody Warns You About is a book by Dr Lorz.The Academic Culture Shock Nobody Warns You About is a book by Dr Lorz. The reason is that the academic shock is far more devastating than the cultural shock, and Indian students are not at all ready for the academic shock.In my childhood, the culture that we were in at home was one that valued memorisation and repetition. Typically, the student who was able to duplicate the text the most accurately earned the highest marks. You were taught by authority figures (your teachers), and you took it in. There was some discouragement of questioning. To argue one’s own point of view was virtually unknown. Then you find yourself in a UK, US, Australian or Canadian University and your English Prof says, “There’s no right answer, I want to know what YOU think. And you freeze. It’s the first time you’ve been asked that you’ve never been asked before, not in a graded setting.
The assignments that Western countries are looking for.Beloved Western assignments, there are not many assignments abroad that test knowledge of facts. They’re trying to see if you can think. They hope you will argue something, provide supporting evidence, recognise opposition points of view, and make a conclusion that is yours. This is defined as critical thinking, and at first glance, many Indian students will be hard-pressed to identify it. Fortunately, it’s a skill and not a talent. You learn it. To start, you should: Before you search for the answer on Google, read the question three times! What do I need to do here? What’s the question asking of me? To evaluate the effectiveness of carbon taxes, not just to write about the subject. The word evaluate here is taking the place of information; it’s asking for judgment. Then select a Side/Position. Many Indian students attempt to view the topic from every perspective, only to come up with an essay that’s wishy-washy. When writing for professors overseas, they tend to look for your opinion and want to hear it and defend it. Don’t be shy in your argument. It’s not rude, it’s academic! Lastly, cite your sources in support of YOU, not to replace YOU! Do not write an essay that looks more like a series of quotations with your name on the front page; it should be written as if you were making a case with scholars supporting you. When everything seems out of kilter, it is hard to develop a routine. The first thing that goes out of the window when it comes to relocating abroad is routine. If things are not normal, the productivity is not, either. You are in a new city, your schedule is not known, and every weekend is an opportunity to discover new things, or on the difficult nights, just stay in bed and watch YouTube videos from home, where you can hear familiar voices. There is a need to create a new pattern, but it must be done purposefully. Not so much as it is with perfection — with consistency. 🕗 Set an alarm to wake you up on time. If none of your classes starts in the morning, wake up at the same time each morning. It can help you keep your day organised and inform your brain that there is structure to your day. 📚Develop a “home of learning” Identify one work environment (library, café, study room, etc.) that is always a good place for working. Over time, that space will begin to be linked to concentration for your brain. 🍽 Feed on schedule. One of the worst things to do is to go without food to study. An empty/brain does not function properly. Eating meals also helps to help your day flow. 📵 Set phone boundaries. Talking to family on WhatsApp, Instagram, home news, etc. — all is well. However, if you check your phone every 10 minutes, then deep work is not possible. The most difficult aspect of developing a routine overseas is that there is no social influence that maintains it. At home, you and your family had a structure to your day, with meal times and social engagements filling the day. The day here is just blank, in particular if you’re alone. That freedom is great, but it can be hazardous for productivity as well. You must create your own form. How to get assignments done without going under. Let’s get down to business. The way to actually accomplish assignment load without losing your mind. Don’t wait too long, or start on a bad foot. Most Indian students have been schooled to operate in stressful situations. Always, tests were cramming time done last minute, and somehow, it worked out. However, assignments have other purposes than exams. They need time to think these over, days rather than three hours of focused memory. The one thing that will help change your academic life abroad is that you begin assignments as soon as they are assigned. Not writing the whole thing, but just opening a document, pasting the question in, making quick notes of initial ideas and perhaps reading for 15 minutes at the beginning. That is enough. Basically, this gets your mind going on the question in the background. When you are sitting down to write properly, it has been 2 weeks since you have been thinking about it. Divide up the work. A 2500-word essay may seem like a ton of documents. It seems like an easy assignment to write the introduction — 200 words. Never work in fractions. The outline might be: Day 1: understand the question, outline. Day 2 and 3 — Read and find your sources. Day 4 – write the initial draft. Day 5 – Edit and enhance. Day 6 — final proofread. That’s over 2 or 3 weeks, and you have a very relaxed timeline. What you notice is that most of the students don’t start until Day 5 equivalent and are always panicking.Important tip: make use of your University’s resources! It is very common for Indian students to not approach tutors for academic support due to either being embarrassed or embarrassed because of how they perceive they might come across. A culture is developed that if they need help, they are weak, or if they ask a question, it is a bother to the teacher. Get rid of this notion now. Support services are core to the fabric of Western universities. The writing centre, academic skills workshops, subject tutors and your professor’s office hours — these are here for you to use. They are a part of the cost of your tuition. If you have a writing advisor and can get in for half an hour, you can convert a mediocre essay into a very good essay. Scheduling office hours conveys a message to your professor that you are involved and taking the professor’s class seriously. It can also simplify an assignment question in 2 minutes, which you would have been trying to answer all day long, by Googling it. The resources that are most of the time never used by the Indian students, but should be used. The Academic Writing Centre provides free feedback on your essays before submission. This is very beneficial. Professor’s Office Hours — your Professor wants to help. They are no scarier than a cat. Five minutes of discussion can save hours of confusion! Student Study Groups — hanging out with students from other countries helps you to think critically and acquire other academic viewpoints. Counselling Services — adjustment stress is a reality! There are many universities that have international student counsellors. It’s okay to speak to one of them. How to overcome the Homesickness Problem and how it affects you at work. It’s something we don’t like to discuss, yet everyone has to go through it. Homesickness isn’t about missing mum’s food or Diwali with your family. It’s a real loss, the loss of yourself, the loss of your world, the loss of your language. A sense of being slightly out of place all the time – a bit like wearing shoes that are too small! Homesickness directly impacts students’ academic performance. Emotional fatigue can leave you feeling less motivated, less concentrated, and even less up for trivial tasks. You will work at your desk for 2 hours, and get nothing done, not because you are lazy, but because your emotional tank is full. The following is actually what works. Have regular, but not daily, contact with home — a weekly video call. If you have daily contact, it can even be a hindrance to getting your groove going: it draws you back into your emotions, rather than helping you create a life into which you fit. Weekly calls are a positive thing that is not a crutch. Make something local and feel at home. Locate the Indian store in your town and prepare a known dish once a week. In addition to getting to know your Indian students, try to get other Indian students who have references without you having to explain them. Join a cricket club, a Bollywood dancing group, Desi WhatsApp group. Homesickness is a disease of the community.On the other days (and there will be other days), allow yourself to feel the day, but don’t “catastrophise” it. If you feel sad and you feel you have made a mistake because you came, you are wrong.If you feel you made a mistake when you came, you feel sad, you’re not. It means you’re human, you love your family. This is all good. Display group projects and presentations in class and on the board; ask students to ask each other the Confidence Question. For the majority of students in India, group projects overseas are a new thing. As you are dealing with German, Nigerian, Chinese, and Brazilian people, with their different communication styles, expectations, and ideas about “done”. This is more than enriching; it is sometimes quite maddening. A frequent challenge is being able to assert oneself. In group situations, and especially when the group members are more assertive with their voices, Indian students may be silent, especially if their background is one in which the teacher speaks and they listen. Your ideas are as valuable, though. You’re coming to the table with a unique education and life view; the Professor wants to see that from mixed groups. Practice verbalising your thoughts, even if they are not full sentences, but rather just parts of a sentence. Indian academic culture is such that you only speak when you know what you want to. Out of the country, it is less inhibited in thinking out loud: I’m not sure, but what if we tried? When presenting, make an overestimate. Over-preparation is a remedy for Indian students who have low self-confidence in speaking English. When you are well acquainted with your material, your nerves are under control. Perform in front of a mirror, tape or show to a friend. It’s about the accent, not the matter. Your thinking is clear, and that does. When time is money, how do you manage it?When time is money, how to manage time? Many of the international students do not experience a sense of urgency like Indian students do — of how much this education is costing. During each Netflix session, you can feel your parents’ voices in the background. There’s the guilt, and there’s the paralysing guilt, and I think that’s understandable, but it’s an incorrect usage. This is a healthy mindset: You’re not just handling getting homework done — you’re creating a life. There’s a part of that life that’s rest, friendships, explorations and joys. They are not luxuries that are taken away from studying. They are the energy that allows continual learning to take place. Burning out in the first semester is almost always the result of the student trying to study 16 hours a day out of guilt and/or fear. It’s not something that can be kept up. No human can. Studies repeatedly have proven that four to six hours of concentrated, undisturbed work are more productive than ten hours of trying to get work done under stress and unproductive distractions. A functional weekly time frame. Study in short, concentrated periods, e.g., 90 minutes at a time, followed by 15 minutes of rest. Reserve a little time on the weekend for some exploration and rest. Get a good amount of sleep — 78 hours— not laziness, this is how the memory is consolidated. Make physical activity a priority, no matter how brief (30 minutes walking!). You will be rewarded with better grades and better mental health. Plagiarism and academic honesty are matters of respect for others and the self. This must be made clear as the repercussions are serious. You can’t share answers, copy from online resources or paraphrase without citation, and it can cost you your spot in school here. Rules on academic integrity are strictly enforced overseas, and here it can be a bad idea to copy someone else’s work or paraphrase without citing the source. All work is checked against Turnitin and other sources. Professors know student writing versus what is AI-produced or copied/pasted. It does not make much sense to take the risk. In the event that you are having issues with an assignment, seek assistance. Make use of the writing centre, talk to your professor, and consult with a more advanced student. When there is no way out there is always another one. It is much better to be punished for poor work when you weren’t being dishonest than to receive a lower grade for honest work because you were dishonest.A lower grade for honest work is better than failing a module or being disciplined, which may impact the visa and future. This is the same with AI-generated writing. Leverage AI to brainstorm ideas, comprehend concepts, or gain feedback — but not to compose your essay for you! Also, your college days are for thinking and developing your own voice. Just those skills will take you a long way in your career. Don’t take them on contract. When you have questions about the work that is being done here, you should ask yourself what you are really building. Remember this on the worst of nights when the essay doesn’t get written, and the weather turns bad, and it’s nighttime, and you’re eating cereal for supper because you couldn’t get up the energy to cook. It’s not only the education you’re receiving. You are an emerging person. Developing independent functioning in an entirely new environment. You’re getting good at being a strong communicator. You’re building up that resilience, which you know your peers back home will admire. You are honing a critical-thinking mind instead of an absorptive one. If a student is doing well in the countries he or she is studying abroad, he or she is not the one who was easiest to study abroad. When it was difficult, they were the ones who stuck around – in classes, at their desks, at office hours, by themselves. It’s they who sought out assistance humbly. They established small settlements and established their own communities. Who laid their brains to sleep in a good bed. Who wrote the less-than-perfect first draft, rather than waiting for perfection. You have done the most important thing – you’ve come here. All else is a matter of trial and error. You’ll work it out. This is what you do! That is what we do.
