1. Go to your professors’ office hours
Since it is early in the semester you don’t have that much work yet and probably don’t have any tricky assignments that you need to go to office hours for, however, it can still be very helpful to go. If you are unsure about whether you want to stay in the class, talking to the professor can give you a better idea of his/her expectations for the class and help you decide about your future in the class. Even if you are 100% set on taking the class it never hurts to make a good first impression and make sure the professor knows your name so when it comes to participation grades he/she actually knows who you are rather than being just another random name on the attendance sheet. You might also need a recommendation for jobs or graduate programs after you graduate, or even want a job as a TA for the class, which your professor will be much more inclined to give you if you are someone who has shown enthusiasm right from the beginning – rather than the girl who he/she only met a couple times towards the end of the semester when she was desperately seeking help on the midterm.
2. Start a gym routine now
One of the toughest things to deal with coming back from the winter holidays is going to the gym. Most of us have been hibernating, avoiding the cold and eating as much home cooked turkey, potatoes, and pie as humanly possible before coming back to campus dining. I know in my busy schedule of sleeping and eating there was not a lot of free time for the gym so just the thought of getting on the treadmill makes me tired. However, going to the gym does not get any easier the longer you put it off, you only get more out of shape and it just gets harder when you do decide to finally go. Start a gym routine now before you fall into a set pattern of how you are spending your time this semester. Also, while school work is not that difficult yet, with job and internship applications and interviews coming up the semester is plenty busy, and maintaining a pattern of good exercise habits will make sure when midterms come around you’ll have a way to keep your stress level low.
3. Get sleep
These first couple weeks back on campus are filled with going out – whether it is just with your friends or rush parties. It is easy to have a completely full calendar of events and by all means go to them, but don’t trade in every night of sleep for a date function or Shooters. You can only survive on 4 hours of sleep for so many nights in a row, and sleeping through one class may not matter now but when you want to use that unexcused absence later in the semester you are going to regret it.