My Experience with Volunteer Note-taking at U of T

I’ll admit that when I first heard about the volunteer note-taking program, I was kind of hesitant to join. I didn’t know how helpful it would be, and whether or not I felt comfortable sharing my notes with people I didn’t know. Later, I learned that the notes were for students registered with Accessibility Services, so when my professor urged my class to sign up, I gave it a try. I was required to submit my notes on to the volunteer note-taking website no later than 48 hours after each lecture. The notes had to be taken by myself personally, and they have to organized so that the students can easily use them to study from. Overall, I found that becoming a volunteer note-taker helped make me feel more accountable and take better notes. Feeling accountable As a note-taker, I felt a sense of responsibility. I never missed a single class (even in the worst of snow storms!) and I paid close attention to what the professor was saying so that I didn’t miss any important information to jot down (like test and exam tips!).

Since there was a deadline to submit my notes, I was motivated to review my notes after each lecture with the goal of catching spelling mistakes, organizing the notes, and summarizing key points. But by doing so, I was benefiting myself because I was actually reviewing the content, so this acted as a nice review/study session. Also, come test time, my notes were already at my disposal which helped save a lot of time when I was studying! Taking better notes Since I knew that someone else would be reading my notes, I would put in the extra effort to make my notes perfect. I made sure my notes were as neat as possible. I also included lots of diagrams and other pictures so that students who are visual learners can benefit (also makes the notes more aesthetically pleasing!).

  I also found that I didn’t just go to class to take notes, but I really put in a lot of effort to try and understand the content as best as I could. That way, I could put the professor’s words into my own and write accurate and useful notes for the person receiving my notes. I plan to continue being a note-taker for this upcoming school year because I had an amazing experience with it. If anyone is interested, more information on becoming a volunteer note-taker can be found here.