Intro to note-taking: How to take notes so

MIRALI AMAULA

Most university students can take notes, but the art of effective note-taking can take years to perfect.

It wasn’t until halfway through my doctorate that the sheer volume I had to read made my old note-taking habits obsolete. I always thought that if it’s in the book, if it’s assigned reading, then I have to know every single word, fact, figure, and reference. Enter the practice of highlighting entire paragraphs, typing them up later, and reading them over half a dozen times.

For a long while, I thought this was the best way to do well in school because it had worked. While this style of note-taking might get you through an undergrad degree, and maybe even grad school, it’s not actually the best way to learn well in school.

Most people don’t have photographic memories; there’s only so much that can be remembered. What’s more is that, if you’re like me, when you passively read and memorize things for a test you’re going to forget them almost as soon as that test is done.

Active note-taking, on the other hand, forces you to engage

PHOTO BY TAYLOR PIPE

with what you’re reading or what you’re listening to.

The next time you do a reading or finish taking notes during a lecture ask yourself five questions:

The questions will help you hone in on what’s important, to make deeper connections with the material, and (perhaps most importantly) develop your own ideas. I also recommend condensing this information so that it fits on a large cue card; one cue card per lecture or per reading is manageable and will come in handy during midterms, exams, and beyond.

Of course, this isn’t the only way to take effective notes, but I have found it helpful to my own learning. The most important thing is to not become complacent with your learning experience during university. You pay a lot of money and dedicate a lot of your time to your education, you owe it to yourself to keep trying different learning strategies until you find the one that allows you to meet your full potential.

ICONS BY FLATICON

ELENI KOPSAFTIS

Parking has always been a hot commodity on campus, and this year will be no different.

Lots of people commute to campus including faculty, staff, and students. While there’s a ton of space to park in and around the university, an in-person semester is sure to fill up most of the lots. Here’s how campus parking works at the University of Guelph.

The primary parking spaces are sorted by the colours black, green, red, and yellow, and they require permits.

The black lots are small, premium lots located closest to certain buildings like Johnston Hall or the Animal Nutrition Building, and they cost $155 per month. One permit gets you a spot in a specific interior lot, and you’re also allowed to park in red and yellow lots.

Red lots are in the interior campus area and range in size. Red lot permits cost $85 per month.

Yellow parking lots are larger and located on the perimeters of campus. A permit for access to these areas costs $75 — the cheapest of the colour-coded permits.

Black lot permit holders have unlimited in-and-out privileges 24/7. Both red and yellow parking permits allow you to leave your vehicle in the respective area during hours of operation. Unlike black lot permits, red and yellow permit users can only park in their assigned lots and are not always guaranteed a spot.

There are also now green permits for students with electric vehicles, available at an additional charge.

If you’re not interested in a monthly permit, daily permits for lots P13 or P30 are also available to faculty, staff, and students for $5 per day.

To get a U of G parking permit, you have to complete a student or faculty/staff Parking Account Request form online to get a Parking Account. Then, you can visit the Parking Services website and log in with your central login credentials to purchase a permit.

Permits can be printed and used as permit tags to leave inside your vehicle. Alternatively, you can register your vehicle’s license plate in your parking account to have a virtual permit.

At U of G, pay-by-phone parking is also available. For short term parking in interior lots, you can use the PayByPhone app or call 1-800-234-7275 to pay by the day or by the hour. Daily pay-byphone parking costs $20 per day, and hourly parking costs $2.50 per hour. Both options also have a $0.35 transaction fee.

Be aware that the U of G is still only accepting cashless payments at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Charges for parking on campus begin Sept. 1.