As finals start approaching with winter break right around the corner, this is a good time to take a deep breath and reflect on how the semester went. Reflection is one of my favorite tools for thinking about what good habits I created this semester and what I should be working on next semester. Here are four major changes I would make if I were able to do this semester all over again.
CreatE More of a Balance between school life and social life
It is super tempting for me to stack on all the credit hours I possibly can because I want to make sure I can graduate on time but still have space in my schedule to relax. This semester was definitely one of my more heavily packed semesters academics wise. I took 18 credit hours which definitely had its pros and cons. I’m super glad I was able to get a lot of courses out of the way, but I definitely would not create such a heavy semester again. The workload was pretty doable, but my social life was close to nonexistent. It’s definitely important to keep some balance to avoid getting burnt out or losing motivation.
Join more study groups
Studying with friends can make unbearable assignments feel a whole lot better, but I didn’t really take advantage of this until the later end of this semester. I love being able to bounce ideas off of each other and help each other out with problems we don’t quite understand. Once I started studying with friends more, I saw that I was much more motivated to get my assignments done, and I was able to stay focused for longer periods of time. When I study by myself, it’s so easy to get distracted by something and not get back to what I was working on.
Prioritize Physical Fitness
Every time I finish a good workout session, I am amazed at how good I feel afterwards and wonder why I don’t do this more often. It’s easy for me to give myself excuses and say I could be using the time to work on assignments, but this also goes back to creating that balance for myself. Taking care of my mental and physical health are also essentials for academic success, but let’s be real; it’s really easy to get lazy about it every now and then. Nevertheless, going to the gym for a little while is better than not going at all.
More sleep, less caffeine
As assignments piled up over the course of the semester, It was really tempting to replace my need for sleep with a cup of coffee which honestly never really worked and would leave me tired anyway. The caffeine consumption this semester has been borderline concerning, but I definitely understand the importance of setting a proper sleep schedule. Being able to go to bed and wake up around the same time every day is super important for regulating my body’s internal alarm clock and making sure I don’t require that afternoon nap I’ve become a little too familiar with this semester.