Study Tips from online students - #4 Believe in yourself

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• Don’t let fear hold you back

  What students said:

  I think the only real obstacle I’ve had to overcome is my own doubts. Other than that, like I don't have anything else really holding me back.

  It was really difficult to try and find my way through and then with Open Universities it was almost like “Hang on a minute. Oh, this is easy”.

  I think a lot of people are perfectly capable – they really do just need that help getting started and I just feel it needs to be more of a priority to educate everyone, not just those whose parents have been successful and lucky.

  I wasn’t very confident and I didn’t think I was smart enough to do what I’m doing. Had I known that I would have got into it a lot earlier.

• Cut yourself some slack

  What students said:

  There were moments where I sat down and just in moments of frustration thought “No, I can’t do this because I’m stupid and that’s what the problem is here and I just can’t figure it out”. The way around it was to sit down and go “No, it’s got nothing to do with your level of intelligence…”

  I think it’s really the only obstacle that I’ve ever come is learning not to worry about anybody else and only worry about myself when it comes to my studies.

• Remember the strengths you already bring

  What students said:

  I suppose that it was going to be a lot more difficult than what I’ve found it and that I wouldn’t have been smart enough to do it. I think because I’ve had a lot of outside, real-world experience.

  It’s all brought out the core of who I am and it’s just fantastic. It’s just brought out what I always knew – that I’m capable of… it gave me fantastic self-confidence, it’s giving me self-confidence within myself.

  I’ve discovered what I’ve always known – that I’m capable of a lot of things that I have not had the chance to undertake as a youngster.

• You can do it!

  What students said:

  I feel so much confident and relaxed in it that I'm not worried about passing.

  I think when you get to a certain point you just keep going no matter what.

  I’m about 10 times smarter than what I thought. And I’ve got far more potential than what I thought.