Happy Chinese New Year, the year of the Ox – Gong Xi Fai Cai
The new year brings the realisation that you have examinations this May and June. We wish you well in your preparation for these, but most importantly please remember that the deadline for returning your examination entry form to the University of London is 1 February 2009. (Some examination authorities require even earlier registration).
The start of a new year is a time for good resolutions and I believe that many of you will have decided to spend more time studying and revising. You have set admirable goals of working even harder and given up some other activities to ensure that you have enough time to work. Set realistic targets and keep to them, rather than unrealistic targets which will be impossible to reach.
The dramatic changes that are occurring in the world economy with the subsequent loss of jobs and financial insecurity for many will affect us all and some of you will be worried about the future. At this time it is important to develop additional skills and aptitudes, particularly those of scepticism and flexibility as so many things have changed. Huge financial institutions have gone bankrupt; big outsourcing companies have been found to be corrupt; the global car industry is in serious decline and the commodities markets are in disarray. Interest rates are at an all-time low and for those who have been deferring gratification for a bright future have seen a dramatic fall in the stock markets. What will the future bring?
The important thing to remember is that studying can make a difference: it can make you more adaptable. The way that you study will help develop the softer skills required to adapt to the rapidly changing environments but also the tools to analyse them. Please don’t try to memorise the materials presented to you but keep asking the questions ‘why’ and ‘how’ did these changes happen? What went wrong with the financial markets; why did confidence drop? How do the theories that you have been working on explain these changes? More importantly, are these theories perhaps incapable of helping us to understand the situation we find ourselves in. Be sceptical of the media and read the stories of the crisis carefully; often the examples they use to demonstrate the points they want us to remember are not valid. Question the sources of the data and discuss the issues with your friends and/colleagues.
The units which you are studying indicate that we require you to know, to think and to reflect on what you have learnt and to apply it when necessary. They will certainly provide you with the necessary tools to analyse new situations, and to deal with the data and examples that are presented to you.
It may be difficult to study with so much uncertainty but this is the time to develop your ‘human capital’ and your transferable skills. Remember that the process of studying is as important as learning your material and the skills you develop will always be useful. The best way of gaining these skills is to engage in discussions and debates. (For more information please see Strategies for success, chapter 3, Learning skills for success). Discussion and debate can be done in a college setting, on the discussion forums in the VLE, with friends and, if there is no-one else around, with yourself!
Best wishes for the new year from us all at LSE External Study.
Rosie Gosling
Posted by LSE office for UOL International Programmes 
