A four year education can slip right through your fingers if you don’t work hard and keep your grades up. It’s that time again, the start of a new semester. Here are some easy and practical tips to stay on top of a grueling workload and still enjoy your time here at BC.
1. Make a Fresh Start
Sometimes something as simple as new notebooks and school supplies can put you on the track to success. If you mentally prepare yourself for new classes, you will be more than happy with the results. Make a mental note to work hard from the start so you don’t have to play catch-up later.
2. Stay Organized
A planner is a beautiful thing. Take a moment before classes get crazy to write down everything that is going on.
Condense your five or more syllabuses into one compact planner. Make sure you pencil in all those extra curriculars too! By doing this, you’ll know when you have to work ahead of time to complete something if you see you have a really busy week coming up.
3. Push Yourself
Sometimes we put work for a less challenging class aside to make sure we do well in another. Try to treat all your classes as equally as you can. That’s the point of a liberal arts education. If you skim all your reading for a class to make sure you turn in your essay for another, you may be missing something really interesting or educationally valuable. We understand that sometimes its necessary but, this semester, really try to push yourself. Don’t just say, “That’s good enough” and move on to another assignment. We are paying over 50 grand to be here, so the least you can do is get the most out of every class and work your tail off…even in the boring ones.
4. Embrace Change
Your schedule may not have worked out exactly as planned, you may have an array of new classes, or you might just be mentally preparing to keep your new year’s resolution and go with the punches. Whatever the change is, change is not necessarily bad, and oftentimes its good! It helps you make future decisions and learn what you like and dislike. So go ahead, take a different route to class, make a new friend, or switch your facebook to timeline. Your GPA will reflect this new fresh and wholesome attitude.
5. Keep Calm, and…
Breathe. Sometimes you need to take a moment, step back, and smell the roses. It is easy to get caught up in the stress of a new semester. Just know, everything is going to work itself out one way or another. We are lucky and part of the 1% that even gets to study at Boston College. You might miss out on really fun opportunities and memories if you let stress take over. Use the calm before the storm to prepare the best you can and relax. During the new semester, remember to take that time for you. Although you’re not using this time to study, sometimes stepping away from the books recharges you when you come back to your studies.
So use this New Year to start doing whatever it is you should be doing! As a college student, most of the time that is raising our GPAs. With these simple tweaks and some determination, I have faith that your GPA will improve. Good Luck!
Photo Sources:
http://desiretooinspire.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/calendar-image.jpg
http://couragehopestrength.tumblr.com/