You have caught up on your sleep, gained five pounds, and hopefully forgotten all about the papers and tests that last semester held. Now with a new year’s resolution and some cute new outfits gifted to you during Christmas, it’s time to start the new spring 2017 semester.
After some three weeks away from school, students are usually feeling one of two ways; excited to start school or dreading saying goodbye to the long naps they have grown accustomed to. Personally, I relate to both. However I tend to favor the excited side more. A new semester brings a lot of things, new classes, new people, new parties, just a lot of new, and I think that’s a good thing. If you’re still not catching the school feels, don’t worry you’re not alone; there are ways to fight the agony you may feel about school starting.
One of the best ways to combat the winter break blues is to set a legitimate goal (if you haven’t already) for your semester. This doesn’t have to be academic either, college isn’t always about the grades. If you’re shy, try telling yourself that you will leave this semester with two new friends. Now that doesn’t mean befriend the first stranger that strikes up a conversation, but perhaps broaden your social horizons a bit and find someone who likes McAllister’s just as much as you. If you’re feeling less than enthusiastic about the new semester you can also hit up Target for an academic shopping splurge. New school supplies are the best when it comes to scholarly motivation, and there’s no need to feel guilty about your purchases because they are for a good cause. Invest in a cute planner that will motivate you to stay organized as well as some cute notebooks and pens that will inspire detailed note-taking sure to help you ace any test that comes your way!
When it comes to getting back into a routine one way to help ease the pain is to schedule your day down to the last detail for the first few weeks. Sounds crazy right? But it works. After a long break we tend to become forgetful and have a hard time getting back into the swing of things. Be sure to write things down and double and triple check your schedule. When filling out your planner it can be helpful to pencil in little reminders like ‘check your email’ or ‘ask Sarah for her old i-clicker’, just to remain on top of things until your back into full on school mode.
One of the most important tips to getting back into school is to sleep and eat regularly. If you’re like me, those are two things you will surely never forget to do, so that may sound a little crazy when I suggest it, but school can keep us very busy and the first few weeks can throw you totally out of whack. One way to make sure you’re going to kick some university booty is to get to sleep early and eat regularly. This will improve your mood and tolerance levels so all of the information on your syllabi won’t seem so overwhelming. Sometimes the first few weeks of school may seem slow and there might not be a lot going on in your classes just yet, DON’T BE FOOLED. Stay on top of things because when school finally does start to pick up you don’t want to be running around trying to schedule in time to study. Use the slow time to read ahead a little bit in your book and to get to know your professors. It’s extremely hard to recover after a rough start.
My final tip focuses’ again on the NEW part of the new semester. Embrace the new and enjoy it because a new semester has a lot to offer. It’s a way to possibly recover from a terrible previous semester, and it’s a fresh start with completely different teachers. It’s also the last leap before summer vacation so congratulate yourself for making it half way through, and have fun!