Student life

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Students at world-renowned universities in Canada, the United States,

“It is hard to be what you cannot see.” – Marian Wright Edelman

German students are no less competitive than their counterparts in other countries. Let’s face it: we are a success-driven society. The old saying that Germans always aim for perfection, that the best is not good enough, holds true not only for the manufacturing industry, it certainly applies to our education as well.

The highest levels of graduate debt in key English-speaking countries are faced by English university graduates, a report revealed today.

Even compared with graduates of private universities in the US, on average English university students, who now pay tuition fees of £9,000 a year, carry the heaviest burden of debt upon graduation – more than £44,000.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from my undergraduate degree was not non-linear dynamics, or even behavioural neuroscience, or 20th-century harmony. It was that within most degrees there is plenty of room for freedom – but to exercise it you need to read the fine print and know the right people.

Mobile phones have a bad reputation within education, with the words “time wasters” and “distractions” being thrown around more often than a netball in a match. But what if mobile phones were proven to be helpful within education? I’ve found five mobile applications that have been godsends to me at university so far, and they help dispel the myth that mobile phone apps are useful only as procrastination tools.

The forced removal of international students in the UK accused of cheating on English language tests will be investigated by the Home Affairs Committee in a formal inquiry.

The National Union of Students welcomed the decision, which came after they submitted evidence to the committee on Monday outlining concerns with the Home Office’s response to cheating revelations.

University can be a big jump from high school, and for many it is an overwhelming change. The close-knit relationship students may have had with subject teachers at school; those many role models, who appeared to focus on your educational career alone, are replaced by a personal tutor who you might see once or twice in a semester unless you make the effort to seek them out yourself.

Whether it’s a demanding upcoming exam, the bachelor’s or master’s thesis that needs to be perfected, or applying to a university; these “little projects” are associated with factors influencing your future and therefore the pressure can lead to anxiety, frustration and sometimes sheer despair. In the end, most of the energy that could have been used for facing the hurdles gets put into destructive action, such as worrying and overthinking. So, what can be done about it?

Bill Aulet, managing director of the MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, says that entrepreneurship is fundamentally about having control over one’s destiny. The only way to control your destiny is to create it. A cliché, I know, but one that holds true, more so now than ever before. Our modern, global economy and our technological progress mean we are all inextricably interconnected, in the way that we live and in the problems we face.