Nurture friendships. Good relationships with close family members, friends or others are important. Accepting help and support from those who care about you and will listen to you strengthens resilience. So too does giving time to others. Formulating your own words of advice, taking on the role of helper and thinking beyond yourself also helps build resilience – and often results in new friendships being formed too.
Make connections. We see many students transform from self-doubting individuals to confident go-getters as a result of being active in student-led activities. Here you can challenge yourself at your own speed, ask questions and air concerns away from the lecture hall or tutor group – and also get valuable social support. The same is true of the mentoring opportunities there are with alumni, and the associated networking events with law firms and other employers. Developing new skills and being able to ask questions about your future career will help you feel prepared for what’s ahead, further strengthening your resilience.
Avoid seeing problems as insurmountable. You can't change the fact that being a student comes with stressful moments - but you can change how you interpret and respond to that stress. Simply ‘losing it’ will serve no purpose, and likely have a negative impact on you and those around you. Instead, look first at what is achievable, develop some realistic goals and bring in the help of others once you’ve figured out what areas you particularly need help with. Taking decisive action, rather than detaching completely from problems and stresses and wishing they would just go away will all help build resilience.
Be patient. An important aspect of resilience is patience. This is a quality too few of us have in modern day with fast food, instant entertainment, snapchat and more. You might want to get from 0 to 60 straight away but instead think of education as a journey in which the actual process of travel is as important as the end destination. All journeys have ups and downs – and it’s important to remember that the low times play an important role in developing resilience as you unpick what went wrong and adapt so that next time you are stronger.
See resilience as a sum of its parts. Resilience isn’t a quality that some people happen to have and not others. It’s not a simple measure of their ability to cope but a collection of attributes. As such, resilience can be acquired and cultivated. You can practice resilience and get better at it. We can and do help you with that, through your personal tutors, the multiple ways you get feedback and the numerous opportunities there are for self-discovery. The key is to identify ways that are likely to work well for you as part of your own personal strategy for fostering resilience.
Look for opportunities for self-discovery. Resilience is often associated with success, but in fact a critical feature is being able to deal positively with failure. You need to view failure as something you can expect to encounter and learn from. People often learn something about themselves and find that they have grown in some respect as a result of failure. Past students will often indicate that the rigor of our courses and the support they received from students, tutors and alumni helped them build better relationships and a greater sense of strength, even while feeling vulnerable. Often, they will cite this as key to their success in the workplace.
Develop a positive view of yourself. A critical feature of resilience is knowing and managing your shortcomings. We all struggle with this, of course, but it’s really important. Developing confidence in your ability to look at your positives, and use your strengths to solve problems that address your shortcomings, will help you trust your instincts and build resilience. Like resilience, self-belief can be cultivated. If you lack self-belief you need to a) be aware that you do and b) develop strategies for building self-belief.
Do well at being. Your wellbeing is essential for you to build resilience as a student. Wellbeing means different things to different people, but for a student it is a crucial ingredient of effective study. Wellbeing is more than feeling happy (though of course that is important). It is feeling engaged with the world around you, finding things you enjoy, taking time to relax whilst being as active as you can be. It’s also about treating others as you would like to be treated yourself and considering how you live and work with your fellow students. See the University's top tips on wellbeing.
Keep things in perspective. Even when facing very painful events, try to consider the stressful situation in a broader context and keep a long-term perspective. Avoid blowing the event out of proportion. An optimistic outlook enables you to expect that good things will happen in your life. Try visualising what you want, rather than worrying about what you fear. It may sound too simple. But learning to switch your thinking to focus on the positive, rather than the negative is a powerful tool in developing resilience.
Take care of yourself. Last, but very definitely not least, pay attention to your own needs and feelings. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly. Eat well. Taking care of yourself helps to keep your mind and body primed to deal with situations that require resilience. It’s not too late to make that New Year’s resolution!