Students from Semesters 3, 5, and 6 in the Department of English Language at the University of Human Development attended their ‘UHD Talks’ annual event held at the Seminar Hall on 23rd October 2024. The topic of this year was ‘How Can You Too Become a Top Student?’. It allowed the participants to share their experience and their journey of acquiring knowledge and skills in the English language.

Lecturer Araz Ahmed Muhammed presented a brief introduction about the nature of the activity, hoping that more students would get involved in the future to share their stories, communicate their priorities, and transfer life lessons to other students.  

Kashma Awat, a 7th-semester student, focused on having goals, aspirations, and ambitions as a university student. She said that students should have short-term and long-term goals. Learning different languages and skills will allow you to meet new people and learn from their experiences. Postgraduate degrees, exploring new places, and having multiple hobbies are long-term goals that will make life more productive and interesting. They give you the chance to see the world from a very different angle, and this will encourage you to discover different aspects of life that were once invisible to you. 

Dima Jalal, a 3rd-semester student, discussed key strategies for effective study habits and time management, drawing from personal experience. She emphasised the importance of creating a flexible study plan that allows for adjustments when things do not go as expected. She also highlighted the need to break big goals into smaller and manageable tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She stressed that time management is not just about scheduling hours but also about prioritising energy and studying when you are most active. Consistency in studying is important, but so is being flexible and changing your approach as needed. Lastly, she encouraged regular reflection to assess what is working and make improvements. The key message is that success comes from working smarter, not harder, and believing in yourself through challenges.

Hedi Omar, a 5th-semester student, dealt with his passion for what knowing the English language entails once being able to understand it well and speak it well. He added, “I was never one to watch or listen to anything purely for the sake of learning; I mostly did it for the sake of entertainment, curiosity, and interest.” If you are interested in something, you naturally work hard for it. If you try and attain a skill purely for financial reasons, i.e., as a way to make money out of it, the learning journey will be dull, boring, and tedious. If you live in the right environment and surround yourself with and the right people and use the vocabulary you learn in daily conversation, then learning English might be a lot easier than you thought.

The audience enriched the event with questions and comments.

Listen and watch on: https://fb.watch/vo-w4-d7RM/