A Sky Full of Stars | Exam Season, and Everything This Series Taught Us
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SU Student Success Initiative Series: Episode Fifteen.
Recorded on Thursday 22 October 2026.
Fifteen conversations, and we end where most students are right now: a week out from exams, trying to work out what to study and when. This final episode is half practical exam preparation and half reckoning – what three months of talking about student success actually added up to.
Jacolette Kloppers hosts the last of 15 conversations on Lunch Club, joined by Dr Melanie Petersen, Programme Manager: Student Access and Success in the Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement; Ms Na-ella Khan, Senior Lecturer and Module Head of Audit 378 in the School of Accountancy; Ms Daniela Erasmus, lecturer in the School of Accountancy; and Ms Ntombifuthi Madunga, educational psychologist at the Centre for Student Counselling and Development (CSCD).
What we cover in this episode:
- Make the plan today: Dr Petersen’s point is that students lose the first days of exam period simply working out what to study. Map every day between now and your last paper, build in breaks, meals and sleep, and identify the gaps now – this week is when you go to consultation hours, not the night before.
- Papers stacked close together: Work backwards from your last paper, weight each module by how hard it is for you rather than by exam order, and once a paper is written, let it go. Protect your sleep, because memory consolidates while you sleep and an all-nighter can undo the work.
In the venue: Read every question, note the mark allocation, and budget accordingly. Start with one you feel confident about. If you go blank, move on and return – the answer usually comes back once you are calmer.
- What separates strong students from struggling ones: Ms Khan on preparation in a calculation-heavy discipline, how to use past papers, managing time under pressure, showing your work for partial marks, and the avoidable mistakes she sees in scripts every year.
- AI, honestly: Where it genuinely helps – explaining a concept differently, generating practice questions, drawing up a timetable – and where it misleads. Khan addresses inaccurate calculations, what you should not share with it, and how to tell whether you have mastered the work or merely enjoyed a convincing explanation. Ms Erasmus brings professional scepticism to the same question: auditors do not accept evidence at face value, and neither should you.
- Writing under time pressure: Ms Erasmus on case-study questions that ask for applied judgement rather than a single right answer, and how to structure a written answer so the marker can follow your argument.
- Why stress scrambles recall: Ms Madunga explains the psychology behind it, where ordinary exam pressure tips into anxiety worth attending to, and why we procrastinate even knowing better.
- The harsh inner voice: After a disappointing result, many students conclude they are not good enough for university. Ms Madunga addresses how to answer that, and walks through exactly what happens when you contact the CSCD for the first time, from booking to first session, including what confidentiality means in practice.
- Three themes across 15 episodes: Success is not only about ability – it is belonging, well-being, financial security and the right support at the right time. Early action creates options. And nobody succeeds alone.
Where to find support:
All 15 episodes are available as podcasts on the Student Success website and MFM’s platforms.
SU website: https://www.su.ac.za/en/students/success – or from the SU homepage, click Students, then Support, then Student Success.
Recorded on Thursday 22 October 2026.
Fifteen conversations, and we end where most students are right now: a week out from exams, trying to work out what to study and when. This final episode is half practical exam preparation and half reckoning – what three months of talking about student success actually added up to.
Jacolette Kloppers hosts the last of 15 conversations on Lunch Club, joined by Dr Melanie Petersen, Programme Manager: Student Access and Success in the Division for Learning and Teaching Enhancement; Ms Na-ella Khan, Senior Lecturer and Module Head of Audit 378 in the School of Accountancy; Ms Daniela Erasmus, lecturer in the School of Accountancy; and Ms Ntombifuthi Madunga, educational psychologist at the Centre for Student Counselling and Development (CSCD).
What we cover in this episode:
- Make the plan today: Dr Petersen’s point is that students lose the first days of exam period simply working out what to study. Map every day between now and your last paper, build in breaks, meals and sleep, and identify the gaps now – this week is when you go to consultation hours, not the night before.
- Papers stacked close together: Work backwards from your last paper, weight each module by how hard it is for you rather than by exam order, and once a paper is written, let it go. Protect your sleep, because memory consolidates while you sleep and an all-nighter can undo the work.
In the venue: Read every question, note the mark allocation, and budget accordingly. Start with one you feel confident about. If you go blank, move on and return – the answer usually comes back once you are calmer.
- What separates strong students from struggling ones: Ms Khan on preparation in a calculation-heavy discipline, how to use past papers, managing time under pressure, showing your work for partial marks, and the avoidable mistakes she sees in scripts every year.
- AI, honestly: Where it genuinely helps – explaining a concept differently, generating practice questions, drawing up a timetable – and where it misleads. Khan addresses inaccurate calculations, what you should not share with it, and how to tell whether you have mastered the work or merely enjoyed a convincing explanation. Ms Erasmus brings professional scepticism to the same question: auditors do not accept evidence at face value, and neither should you.
- Writing under time pressure: Ms Erasmus on case-study questions that ask for applied judgement rather than a single right answer, and how to structure a written answer so the marker can follow your argument.
- Why stress scrambles recall: Ms Madunga explains the psychology behind it, where ordinary exam pressure tips into anxiety worth attending to, and why we procrastinate even knowing better.
- The harsh inner voice: After a disappointing result, many students conclude they are not good enough for university. Ms Madunga addresses how to answer that, and walks through exactly what happens when you contact the CSCD for the first time, from booking to first session, including what confidentiality means in practice.
- Three themes across 15 episodes: Success is not only about ability – it is belonging, well-being, financial security and the right support at the right time. Early action creates options. And nobody succeeds alone.
Where to find support:
All 15 episodes are available as podcasts on the Student Success website and MFM’s platforms.
SU website: https://www.su.ac.za/en/students/success – or from the SU homepage, click Students, then Support, then Student Success.
