Any tricks on how to understand ATC better?

I'm a student pilot and I've noticed that I have a hard time understanding ATC, and I don't mean that I don't understand their instructions, I mean that I literally can't make out the words they are saying to me. I try being on the lookout and paying attention, but I'll often get instructions and have absolutely no idea what was communicated to me. It doesn't help that the ATC operators at my school are known to be rude and impatient with students, so I want to avoid having to ask them to repeat themselves as much as possible. Anybody been through this before? If so, what/ is there a solution?

Extra info: I'm currently using the David Clarks h10-13.4 if anybody was wondering