College Life 101

College life can be extremely stressful at times, but college weekends can be your savior. Scroll down the article below to find out how I make the best use of my weekend to prepare for another busy week.

Food prep would really help

Preparing meals beforehand is the perfect answer to coming home after exhausting classes. Prepping a good source of protein such as grilled chicken, tofu and eggs, paired with common carbohydrate sources like potatoes, bread or rice on top of some salad and fruits for some green energy would really help you maintain a healthy diet and effectively reduce the tendency for expensive takeout. Not only does this boost your health and provide you with a good source of energy, but it also does your college budget a favor!

Make sure to prepare a wide range of foods, and settle a day around mid-week to restock a few food types for greater variety. This way, you will not get overly fed up with the food you have prepared the whole week and have a much more pleasant experience as a whole.

A neat closet is a treat

Have you ever woken up late to a messy closet, frantically digging out a random hoodie and jeans just to make it to school on time?

Say less! A neatly organized closet can be your best friend.

Starting the second semester of freshman year, I have formed the habit of ironing a set of clothes at the weekend and organizing them in an orderly way. I would usually segment my closet into sports/gym outfits, formal work clothes, casual-looking items and one or two beautiful dresses for when I am feeling princessy!

Besides helping me save a tremendous amount of time for breakfast and a decent coffee to start off a great morning, I have felt so much more confident coming to school looking smart and prepared every day.

Clean now, thank me later

A week of study often leaves students exhausted and probably in very little mood for cleaning. But trust me, it will effectively take your 15 minutes looking for this notebook, 20 minutes searching for that car key and so much more, off your schedule!

I always start off with laundry for my pillowcase and blanket. You will be surprised by how much cleaning your bed helps in reducing those acne you hate!

Taking out the trash would also help tremendously with keeping annoying bugs away. Taking the day off to reorganize your study desk would allow you to reflect on what has happened over the week and put you in a better mood studying for classes next week.

You, yes, you

The responsibilities of work, assignments and household chores can leave everyone breathless by the end of the week, so do yourself a favor by setting up a date with your best friend, or simply just treating yourself to something you have been craving all week (especially with that money you save from food prep :)

Slowing down and being present for the moment gives you the opportunity to reflect on any issues that have occurred throughout the week and taking better care of your mental well-being. The art of self-love is no mean feat to conquer with a challenging college life but putting in that extra effort to treat yourself well and really finding ways to solve any remaining problems would gradually take certain burdens off you to better prepare for anything coming your way.

Keep smiling, and I wish you would have the most amazing college year ever!

Yours sincerely,

Quyen Tran

• cleaning tips
• college tips
• meal prep
• self love