How to Succeed in Your Online Event & Wedding Planning Course
Not sure how to study for your online event and wedding planning course? It’s easy to get derailed if there’s no instructor breathing down your neck, but the good news is that QC’s courses don’t have any final exams where you have to cram in a lot of material into your brain just to regurgitate back onto a piece of paper (and then ultimately forget it).
When you’re taking the time to learn your material and complete assignments, you’re actually applying the knowledge constructively and you’ll walk away having retained much more information. Since it’s a lot more of an involved process to study and apply your knowledge, there’s (appropriately) more work and effort that you are expected to put in.
If you feel your stress levels rising, don’t worry! We’re here to help you out. Keep reading to find out how to succeed in your event and wedding planning course!
To begin…
When you first get all your course materials in the mail, you may feel overwhelmed by all the books, DVDs, course guides and bonus materials—it is a lot to tackle, after all! The first thing you should do is find the course guide for Unit A.
QC’s course guides lead you through the entire course, one unit at a time. It tells you when to do your readings in the course textbooks, when to watch the videos, and when to do the associated assignments. It has a helpful checklist for each module so you can keep track of your progress and look back to see what you learned and where to find the information for later reference.
These same materials are digitized and can be found on the Online Student Center. You can access all the same information on there, and that’s where you’ll find assignment templates you need to fill out and submit to pass the course.
Now that you have your course guide open, let’s tackle how you should approach studying to make the most of your time!
Time frame:
The average QC student will complete the Event & Wedding Planning course in 4 – 6 months when working on the course part-time for a couple of hours each week. You can finish sooner or later than that time period since our courses are self-paced. You have 3 years from the date of enrollment to finish your course, so don’t sweat it if something unexpected happens and you aren’t able to work on your coursework for a month or two after you start—that’s the beauty of attending an online course!
You’re only able to submit one unit’s worth of assignments at a time (each unit has between 8-12 assignments). You’re certainly able to submit a unit and get started on the readings, videos, and assignments of the next unit, but you won’t be able to submit your assignments until your tutor marks and gets the previous unit back to you.
This works to your benefit, though, as you’ll be able to evaluate their constructive feedback and use their tips to help you refine your next set of assignments! QC Event School allows their tutors up to 10 business days to return units back to their students, so don’t fret if after 4 days you still haven’t received your mark—they’re working on it!
Working through the course
The most important thing to remember is to take your time! Don’t feel like you have to rush through the course. The key to success is to put in the effort and be thoughtful with how you approach the course content and your assignments. Your tutors will recognize your hard work and attention to detail when you think critically about what you’ve read and given it your full attention.
Candice Coppola, owner of Jubilee Events and QC Event School instructor, gave us the scoop on what students are doing right when completing their courses!
Find a study spot
If you need absolute silence, set up shop at a library and sit by a window. Natural lighting can do wonders when you’re having trouble concentrating or you feel like you want to sleep!
If you prefer some chattering in the background, you may want to visit a café or go to a park. People will be milling about and minding their own business so you can concentrate on your assignments!
If you’re studying late at night and the cafés are closed, you can still get the busy sounds of a public café through a number of apps and playlists. Coffitivity has three different free café tracks that loop endlessly until you finish what you have to do!
Write down a to-do list
On top of just using the check-lists in the course guides, you’ll also want to plot a time frame to finish each task. Section out a set time each week to dedicate only to your course. If you carve out a three-hour time block, you can then break down the unit’s sections and create a timeline.
Start by writing down everything you want to accomplish during the current session, then a list of extra tasks you hope to achieve if you have the time—if you run out, no worries! Save the task for next time. When you break down an entire unit’s worth of work into manageable sections, it becomes much easier to get started.
Try this…
Have you ever heard of the Pomodoro technique? Named after the tomato cooking timer an Italian university student used to structure his time, this has now become a widely accepted way to add more breaks into a study session while increasing productivity! It sounds too good to be true, but it truly works… so long as you have the discipline to keep focused for 25 minutes at a time!
The technique stipulates 25 minutes of concentration on a task, followed by a 5 minute break. After your break, you start on your next 25 minute time block followed by a break. This is done four times consecutively. After the fourth time, take a longer break spanning 15-30 minutes. Make sure you’re checking off items from your to-do list to visibly show yourself that you’ve achieved something.
Give this technique a shot! It isn’t guaranteed to work for everyone, but it’s pushed many students to be consistently productive. If it doesn’t work, find something that best matches your learning style and stick with it!
