It changes how your body works and puts your mind into different moods. When you're getting a bit stressed about an exam - it just means that you really care about the result you will get. That can be a good thing if it pushes you into working extra hard as you try to get a good score. But it can be bad if you get too worried and the effects of the stress stop you doing well. Stress is natural part of being human. It's your body responding to changes in the world around you. You could be showing these signs when you're stressed:
feeling tired
ache all over
cry and feel sad
have panic attacks
have broken sleep
suffer from stomach upsets
have itchy skin rashes
more likely to get colds and 'flu
How to beat the monster?
1. Get plenty of sleep Try to keep your sleep routine as regular as possible
2. Take a break This is really important, you should give yourself plenty of short breaks as you revise, this keeps you fresher for longer, so you will learn more.
3. Time for yourself Try to leave enough time in your revision for some fun. You will need to put your books down and do something you enjoy for a while if you want to stay in a good mood.
4. Be realistic Don't try to do too much work each day. If you overdo it you won't take in the facts you're revising.
5. Eat properly Make sure your diet includes plenty of fruit and veg. Drink juice or water, avoid too much tea or coffee.
6. Get some exercise It's a fantastic stress buster. Go running, skateboarding, play a sport, or just take a walk around the block. You will feel more relaxed. If you're not sleeping very well exercise can make a real difference.
7. Be positive Don't beat yourself up about things, instead be nice to yourself. Make a quick list of five things you've done that you are proud of. This will put you in a good mood and you will learn more.
8. Chill out If you are starting to lose it, and feel that the studying is getting on top of you - take a bit of time to:
Breathe deeply.
Tell yourself how well you are doing.
Remind yourself that everything is going to turn out alright.
Stand up straight and smile, you will feel a bit better straight away.
It marks the official end of humanity's struggle for survival and the beginning of a really relaxing afternoon, or night. The first wireless remote, designed by Eugene Polley, is essentially a flashlight. When Zenith discovered that direct sunlight also can change channels on the remote-receptive TVs, the company came out with a model that used ultrasound... which lasted till the '80s and then we discovered infrared.
Microwave Oven (1955)
In 1945 Raytheon's Percy Spencer stood in front of a magnetron (the power tube of radar) and felt a candy bar start to melt in his pocket: he tries placing popcorn kernels in front of the magnetron and the kernels explode all over the lab. Ten years later Spencer patented a 'radar range' that cooked with high-frequency radio waves. And gave women the time to discover the real meaning of a night of partying...
Jet Airliner (1958)
The Boeing 707-120 debuts as the world's first successful commercial jet airliner, ushering in the era of accessible mass air travel. The four-engine plane carries 181 passengers and cruises at 600 mph for up to 5,280 miles on a full tank. The first commercial jet flight takes off from New York and lands in Paris... and gives the rich and the famous a high-flying, fashionable lifestyle statement - the jetsetter is born!
Laser beam (1958)
Whitens teeth, removes tattoos, corrects vision, erases wrinkles, reduces weight... gives cosmetic beauty a new meaning altogether. And all this while trying to track missiles too!
The computer (1959)
The phrase 'dot com' became a part of our lingo only in the 1990s, but the sequence of innovations that leads to the Internet goes back at least 40 years. In 1989, Sir Tim Berners-Lee created Hypertext Markup Language' (HTML) to make Web pages and the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to identify where information is stored. Two phrases that has ever since shrunk the world, brought friends closer, increased efficiency, improved communication, and brought the world to our bedroom at the click of a button.
Cordless devices (1961)
Black and Decker release its first cordless drill. A simple tool that becomes a keyword for easy living - cordless phones, radios, computers.
Digital Music (1970)
James Russell, a scientist, invents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system. Something that today, makes us dance to the tunes of rap, remix, club and lounge music.
ATM (1969)
On September 2, our bank will open at 9 am and never close again! Read a Long Island branch of Chemical Bank advertisement in 1969. And today, who goes to a bank when in need of cash?
MP3 player (1998)
Depending on who you ask, the MP3 is either the end of civilization (record companies) or the dawn of a new world (everyone else). The korean company Saehan introduces its MPMan in 1998, long before Apple asks, "Which iPod are you?"
Video games (1962)
MIT programmers write Spacewar and 44 years later, 89 per cent of school-age kids, and 63 per cent adult professionals own video games.
Please comment in case you have more invention which changed the we live our lives!
Volunteer for communication and leadership activities within your current activities: in a disciplinary society, student organization, class, or laboratory.
As a graduate student, be a mentor to undergraduates and encourage them to participate in research.
Practice brainstorming with fellow researchers in person or via the Internet.
Form a research group: give talks to each other and encourage honest comment.
Arrange an off-campus internship that can extend or broaden your skills and introduce you to another work environment.
Use computer aids to evaluate your attributes.
Join or organize a Toastmaster's Club to improve your public-speaking skills.
Leadership is a quality that must be communicated to others, through both actions and words. There are many opportunities early in your career to develop this quality and to observe it in others. Volunteer to organize a group discussion or project; help a group of undergraduates to learn about research and be responsible in planning meetings with your committee and in reminding members to attend.
Look around you for role models and mentors. A leader in science and engineering might take on various responsibilities: supervising a laboratory, heading a research team, managing a department, or planning new projects. Who among the people you know does a good job as a leader, and what qualities make this possible?
Leadership is a rare quality because it has two facets: a leader must know the goal of an activity and must be able to organize and motivate others to reach the goal. That requires some understanding of the skills and personality of everyone in the group. To develop your capacity for empathy, talk with others about their projects and challenges.
The most-effective leaders are not dictators. Exercise leadership by doing or illustrating rather than by ordering. Others will be more willing to follow a leader who is a servant first; your own activity as an honest, conscientious, and helpful teammate will inspire the same activity in others.
Scientists and engineers in all positions have to be able to communicate the purpose and relevance of their work, both orally and in writing. If you are a teacher, you must communicate with your students. If you work in industry, you must communicate with managers and co-workers (many of whom will not be scientists or engineers) and perhaps with customers. If you are responsible for raising funds for your research, you must market your ideas effectively, write proposals, and generate enthusiasm for your research. If you work in public policy or government, you might have to communicate with the press and other members of the public.
Good communication skills are often needed to get a good job in the first place. If you are clear in expressing your thoughts and articulating your accomplishments and attributes, an interviewer is more likely to form a favorable impression of you and gain an understanding of your skills.
If you are a student, a forthright and outgoing communication style can help to build a better relationship with your adviser. If you can describe your work and your goals
clearly, you are likely to get better advice in return. When it comes time for you to be a mentor to younger students, the value of your guidance will depend on your ability to express yourself.
You need to communicate with colleagues to keep up with trends, to collaborate on projects, and to find a new position. This kind of communication requires clarity of expression, ability to organize thoughts, ability to be a good listener, and empathy for the lives and interests of others. Those skills might not come easy to one who is shy or prefers to work alone. But with practice and the help of friends, they can be improved.
In many environments, particularly as your career advances, you will want to explain your work to nonscientists or scientists trained in other fields who make decisions about funding, facilities, or distribution of capital (human and financial). You should practice by describing your work in simple terms to friends and family at every opportunity.
Give special attention to your writing ability. As an undergraduate, you might do a senior project; as a master's student, you will probably write a thesis; as a doctoral student, you will write a dissertation. As a graduate student, you will also be expected to write papers for publication in journals. All these writing projects must be done to high standards and become evidence of your ability when the time comes to seek employment.
If you think that you need help, take a class in scientific writing or ask a journalism professor to arrange a seminar on the topic. Solicit and learn from responses to papers and proposals when you write them. Take a speech class, or volunteer to talk about your specialty to a local civic group or high school class. Graduate students should form a cooperative group in which students make presentations to each other and agree to provide (and accept) honest responses. Communicate with others via Internet, trying to express your ideas clearly.
If English is not your native language, you must develop English-language skills. Writing exercises will pay off when it comes time to write a thesis, job application, study plan, or grant proposal; speaking exercises will help you to ask questions, communicate with professors, and participate in interviews. It is comforting to spend time with compatriots, but it is easiest to learn the local language (and culture) by mingling with those who speak English. Good language skills will make it easier to find employment, to teach, and to learn from your professors.
Develop a schematic of your educational and career plan.
Imagine what you will be doing in 5, 10, and 20 years.
Review the current career market for your discipline and subdiscipline and for interdisciplinary areas that include your own.
Think about your strengths your weaknesses; make a list of each.
Describe the tempo and environment of each career that you are considering. What do your strengths and weaknesses tell you about the appropriateness of each career?
For each career option that appeals to you, what skills (academic, social, and other) are needed? How successfully have you used these skills already?
Seek a volunteer or internship position in a career area that you are considering.
Participate in a career day or job fair.
''Job shadow" someone in an occupation that you are considering.
While you are evaluating possible careers, take a close look at yourself as a person. Are you innovative or conventional? Timid or bold? Do you thrive on constant challenge? How important is your career, compared with family and
other activities? Some positions in science and engineering involve long hours and a high degree of dedication.
For a fulfilling career, there must be a good match between your natural abilities and what is expected in various professional positions. A useful exercise is to ask yourself what you have enjoyed most in your life and where you think that you have been most useful. Then ask what you have enjoyed least or have found most frustrating. Compare the two lists. Why did you enjoy or dislike each activity? Do you think that your attitude would change if you had more education or training? Would it make a difference if you did it in a different setting or with different people? By examining apparent mismatches, you can learn to evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses in the context of possible jobs.
Take advantage of computer aids and self-assessments; talk to students, teachers, friends outside school, and a guidance counselor. Planning and placement offices provide testing and counseling for students and alumni. Such tests as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (a personality inventory) and the Strong Interest Inventory (which compares a person's interests with those of people employed in particular occupations) might help in finding the career best suited to your temperament.
Because it is difficult to see yourself objectively, seek out other people who might have a different picture of you. A friend or colleague might see strengths invisible to you or advise you against a career that seems wrong for you. An undergraduate adviser can be especially useful—especially if he or she knows you personally as well as academically.
Many publications offer inexpensive, do-it-yourself ways to assess your skills. Check your library, bookstore,
and career center for guides that help you take inventory of your skills and preferences and match the results with the characteristics of different fields. The most popular is What Color Is Your Parachute?, by Richard Bolles, a new revision of which appears each November. Bolles studied chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a degree in physics from Harvard. He offers many aids to help you to determine which skills you most enjoy using, the context in which you want to use them, and careers in which you can apply them (). Other tools are now available online and can be reached via the National Research Council (NRC) Career Planning Center For Beginning Scientists and Engineers.
Assessment of your skills, of your preferences, and of the careers that might be available to you continues as you complete each degree and gain work experience. The time to begin is now, and you should renew this assessment annually throughout your career.
