Three weeks with no school is great, but you want to make sure your Winter Break isn’t completely worthless. Most of the items on this list can be done on your laptop while you are watching Netflix – multitasking!
Using your break time wisely will help your school semester out tremendously. These 8 tips will help you organize your life now, so you are prepared in the future.
1. Update your Resume
Add new skills and experiences to your resume that you have gained during the past semester. If you haven’t started a professional resume yet, there is no better time to start one! Look online for examples and templates to follow.
You can write a few cover letters so you have them handy for upcoming career fairs. You can also use your winter break as a time to update your LinkedIn account.
2. Apply for Jobs/Internships
The New Year is beginning, and it may seem like summer is an eternity away. However, it is smart to start planning for the summer now. Will you go back home for the summer? Will you stay in your college town?
Employers for summer internships usually start selecting candidates around January. If you wait to apply for jobs and internships until closer to summer vacation, the positions might already be filled.
3. Apply for Scholarships
Applying for scholarships sucks, but hey, it’s money. If you find yourself with a few empty hours during your winter break, why not write a few scholarship essays.
Search through your university’s websites to see if there is anything available for you. The earlier you apply for scholarships, the better. The more scholarships you try for, the more scholarships you are likely to receive.
4. Deep Clean
A clean room/apartment can be a metaphor for your life. If you start the semester fresh and clean with an organized room, the semester will feel fresh too.
Nothing feels better than a room that has just been deep cleaned. This means, wipe down surfaces and mirrors, scrub sinks and toilets, put fresh sheets on your bed, dust shelves and vacuum carpets...you get the gist. If you want to get really crazy you can deep clean areas of your life you have been putting off such as your refrigerator or stove.
5. Order Your Textbooks
This is an easy one to check off your to-do list. Most colleges allow you to order your textbooks online. This way, you know you will get your books on time and you won’t have to scramble at the last minute or wait in any huge lines.
If you are really on top of things, you can order your textbooks from a cheaper seller that is not through your university. Ordering your textbooks early can save you time and money.
6. Catch Up on Emails
During the school year, it can feel like you are getting 50 emails a day. Over winter break, the amount of emails should have died down a bit and is a great time to sort through all of the chaos.
You can use this time to set up email folders to keep them organized when the emails come flooding back in during the school semester. You can unsubscribe from any annoying brands that blow up your email everyday too.
7. Get ready for your classes
Getting ready for classes to start back up is a bunch of little steps in itself. Print out your school schedule, make an appointment to meet with your adviser, map out how you are going to get from class to class and organize your planner for the semester.
In your planner you can write down all holiday breaks, midterm weeks and finals week. Some classes probably have their class syllabus posted over winter break. You can write down all important project and test dates in your planner before the school semester even starts.
8. Plan your extra activities for the semester
If you want to get involved in extra things this new semester you need to make a plan. How will new activities fit into your schedule? Maybe you are considering joining a new club or want to start going to yoga classes every week.
Students often say they want to get involved, but never get around to it or make it happen. College has so many opportunities to get involved and to gain leadership experience. Use this time to make sure your plans actually happen.
