STUDENT A - READING

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 483.

You are going to read about Melissa Malins. Your partner is going to read about Francesca

Stellman. Read the article to complete the information about Melissa.

How to get that first!

Yvette Essen hears the secrets of two women who made the grade

Melissa Malins graduated from King's College London with a first[1]; she was awarded the Drew Prize for the Second Most Meritorious Mathematics Graduate.

“Although my degree had no coursework, I put a lot of work in during the year and went to virtually all the lectures, as you take things in subconsciously. I made notes in lectures and copied them up well in advance - often in different colours and sizes, using highlighters to make them look more interesting. As I had eight exams each year it was difficult concentrating on all my subjects without leaving one till the end or focusing too hard on another. Some friends worked on five of the exams, but if you have retakes the following year your workload increases to an almost ridiculous and unmanageable level.

I didn't like going to the library much as I can't work for hours on end in silence. Instead, I spent a lot of time with friends in the study areas as we understood different things so could help each other. It is reassuring when you realise you're not alone when you can't do something. Group study can be distracting as you often talk instead of working, so you need a happy medium and in the final stages I studied on my own.

I tried to think of different ways to remember things: some proofs you just had to understand, others I learnt parrot fashion, by mnemonics[2] or rhymes. I found it better to study in small half-hour sessions rather than five-hour trots as it stuck more in my head and I had to constantly test myself.

Although a degree is really hard work and other things have to be sacrificed, getting the result made it all worthwhile.”