For us Holy Cross students, it's almost time for the start of the new semester.
This means that it's finally time for everyone to get back into the groove of life at school. A new semester allows for you to start things off on the right foot because most likely by the end of the previous semester you felt like you were drowning in work. Now is the time to start new habits that will hopefully help to keep you on track for the rest of the semester. If you wanted to improve on the final grades you received a few months, it's the time to do it. If you want to start changing up your routine because the way you did things before didn't really work that well for you, now is the time to make those improvements. Here is a list of 10 different things you can do in order to set yourself up to have a good semester.
1. Organize/ clean out your dorm room.
If you're anything like me, then you left your room in not the best shape when you left. Everyone is always rushing around to get everything packed and ready to go home that you forget that you should probably try and leave things a little neater. I know when I walk back into my room I'm going to want to re-organize and clean everything out so that it'll make living in the tiny box they pass as a dorm room a bit easier to manage.
2. When you get your syllabi, put all the important dates on your calendar immediately.
If you don't have a calendar, I suggest getting one because it is so much easier to keep track of all your due dates and exam dates if you write them down. That way at the beginning of each week it'll be easier to plan out how much time you'll have to dedicate to work that week.
3. Don't slack off on the work at the beginning of the semester
Even though the beginning the semester starts off relatively easily, it doesn't mean you should slack off on your work. It actually will be more beneficial to you in the long run, to start off with some A's because when things become more difficult as the semester progresses your grades are likely to go down a little bit. Working hard in the beginning of the semester is a nice GPA booster.
4. Start getting up a little earlier in the morning.
This is something I have yet to master, but I have noticed that when I get up at a reasonable hour before my class, I feel a lot less stressed. I don't have to rush to get ready and I even have time to eat breakfast and fit in some homework before my class. It's nice to be able and relax before the day really starts.
5. Eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner
Get in the habit of eating three meals a day. I know it's super easy to forget to eat certain meals, but you'll be more energized if you eat consistently throughout the day.
6. Don't spend all your dining dollars at once.
At the beginning of the semester, it is super easy to spend a bunch of your dining dollars because it feels like you have so much that you'll never be able to spend them all by the end of the semester. In reality, you won't be needing 4 coffees from Cool Beans a day at the beginning of the semester because there is less work for you to do. At the end of the semester or during midterms, you're definitely going to need the extra money to buy all the coffees you could possibly need.
7. Set your schedule as your phone background for the first week of classes.
Even though I'm a sophomore at Holy Cross, I still get lost in all the buildings. It's also sort of hard to find your classes especially if they are located in the whole Fenwick/Smith/O'Neil maze or the Science building. It'll be easier to remember what classrooms to go to if you can just check your lock screen.
8. Start writing everything down in your planner or buy a planner if you don't have one
My planner is literally my life during the semester. It helps me keep track of not only all the important academic dates, but I also write down my daily homework, my work schedule, appointments I have to go to, and meetings. It's really easy to forget things during the semester so a planner is just a nice thing to put everything you'll need to know in there.
9. Get all your textbooks before classes start
It sucks when you don't have a book in a class because you ordered it late. You can easily fall behind really quickly. Buy all the books you'll need at the beginning of the semester so you'll be prepared for all your classes.
10. Write a To-Do List every day
A planner is nice, but it can also be overwhelming at times. In order to reduce your stress every day, write down just the things you need to do that day as opposed to looking at all the other things that you might have due that week. After you finish your to-do list, then start to look ahead. It'll make life a lot less stressful.
