Our Getting Off To A Good Start Guide is a collection of tips and advice for new or returning students who want to start the year as best they can. Originally a print guide, it is now a series of interlinked blog posts that you can bookmark and return to at any point and resume reading. Living online, the guide is constantly updated. This section recommends some further reading.
Getting Off to a Good Start Guide
✨ Explore the sections:
🔗 Introduction |
🔗 Know Your Way Around |
🔗 Start Your Studies Well |
🔗 Looking After Yourself |
🔗 Your Support System |
🔗 Further Reading |
🔗 Final Words
I’m going to hazard a guess that you probably have (or will have) enough to read already, with all your topics.
But, just in case you wanted to do a bit more reading or explore more about Flinders on your laptop, tablet or phone, here are some recommendations:
BetterU
BetterU is where I spend the bulk of my time writing about mental health, wellbeing and productivity. I write articles, post news about HCDS and Oasis, link to cool stuff I find and journal my own reflections and experiences on these topics. In 2025 we started hosting students on placement with BetterU, so more of the content is written by students nowadays.
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Key guides
Some of the posts from BetterU get expanded into longer form articles and guides. I’ve mentioned some of these previously in this guide, but they are worth highlighting again. Our key guides can be found here.
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HCDS Service Brochure (2025) – A concise overview of Flinders University’s Health, Counselling and Disability Services, outlining what support is available and how students can access it.
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How to Prepare Psychologically for Work Placements (2025) – A practical guide to understanding and preparing for the psychological demands of work and clinical placements, helping students turn challenge into growth.
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Habit Hacks (2025) – An evidence-informed collection of behaviour-change strategies and reflections designed to help students successfully build and maintain healthy habits and routines.
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Self-Care Mega Guide (2025) – A comprehensive, reflective guide that helps students think broadly about self-care across multiple life domains and gradually build sustainable self-care practices.
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Evidence-Based Study, Writing and Exam Preparation Tips – A research-grounded guide that brings together effective learning, writing, and exam strategies to help students study more efficiently and with less stress.
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Blogs at Flinders University
I am not the only one blogging at Flinders. Check out the Flinders blogs directory to see who else is writing about their work. These aren’t limited to health and wellbeing. They cover a diverse range of topics and constitute a good way to tap into the worlds of teaching and research here at Flinders.
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Flinders Social media sites
Flinders maintains a number of social media sites that are worth keeping an eye on. These aren’t student specific but will give you a comprehensive sense of what is happening across the university. A recent student experience survey showed that only 48% of students (nationally) had a sense of belonging to their institution. Feeling connected to the university community does predict academic outcomes, but it needs to be cultivated by learning more about the institution. Flinders’ social media is a good way to do this.
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FUSA social media sites
FUSA is the student association and a central source of support and social engagement for students. Their social media sites are student focused and are a news source on the different opportunities available to you as a student. They primarily live on Facebook and Instagram.
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Oasis social media sites
Oasis is a student wellbeing centre on the Bedford Park Campus. The centre itself is a nice place to hang out, but in addition they run programs and events that support student wellbeing and create a sense of social connection and belonging. They keep students notified of these events via Facebook and Instagram.
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Social media sites of student groups
Flinders has a thriving clubs and societies scene and many of these clubs have online destinations. Many communities can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Discord. You might need to do a bit of searching to find them.
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Ping! newsletter
I know email probably isn’t’ the most joyous part of your day, but it remains a dominant communication channel. The Ping! newsletter goes out weekly and is a comprehensive overview of student-relevant happenings at Flinders and then there is targeted information specific to your College. You’ll be getting this newsletter already, so the real challenge is just remembering to take the time to read it 😊 You can always catch up on key content via their blog.
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🟢 Set aside 30 minutes a week to engage with one or more of the information channels described above. Not so much that you feel overwhelmed, but just enough that you feel like you have your finger on the pulse of what is happening at Flinders.
Section reflection 🤔
Are you active on social media? How would you describe your relationship to social media?
Getting Off to a Good Start Guide
✨ Explore the sections:
🔗 Introduction |
🔗 Know Your Way Around |
🔗 Start Your Studies Well |
🔗 Looking After Yourself |
🔗 Your Support System |
🔗 Further Reading |
🔗 Final Words
