In a couple of weeks (or less for some) school will be starting back up again. This means gone are the days where us college students can sleep in (for the most part), do laundry for free and eat good home cooked meals. Returning are the days where pulling all-nighters is the usual, ramen is part of your diet, and making midnight runs to 7-11 happens weekly.

College is a great experience. You hear some people call it the best four years of their life. So obviously you can have a lot of fun in college, but it's important to know how to balance the fun with the work. Not only is it possible to balance the two, but also easy! Today, I am here to tell you my best hacks and tips on how I have been able to have fun in college and still keep up with my studies.

1. Prioritizing.

Why did you come to college in the first place? Did you come to party all the time, or did you come to get a degree? Now I'm not saying you can't party, because you definitely can, but do not let that get in the way of your studies. Don't be that person who dropped out because you partied too much. Be that person who partied and graduated.

2. Talk to your teachers.

Seriously. Teachers are really there to help you and they want to see you succeed. If you have a question about something, ask them. If you're confused about an assignment, tell them. Again teachers (most of them) want to help you. I have had great relationships with most of my teachers and if I was having trouble with something they were always there to help no questions asked. One day I had a question about a paper I was going to turn in, and instead of just answering the question my teacher went over the whole paper with me. By doing that, I was able to see what she sees when she grades my papers and what I need to work on. As a media studies major with a concentration in journalism, this was the best thing she could've done for me. It took a good unplanned hour of her personal time to go over my paper with me, and I noticed that and also appreciated it. So my point of telling that story is: don't be afraid to talk to your teachers!

Here's an extra tip: When sending an email to a teacher, make sure to always use proper language and spelling. It doesn't matter if when they reply it was sent from their iPhone, but the effort you showed and put in!

3. Use flashcards.

Everyone has their preferred studying methods, a popular one and my favorite is the use of flashcards. I like to cut the three by five (or already buy them like that) in half. They're more attractive to me and they also come in different colors! (I love color-coding things). So go over flash cards by yourself or even have a friend quiz you! I would recommended starting to make flash cards in about three to four days in advance, or earlier if it's a hard class, and study them for a little bit each day.

4. Give yourself incentives.

Something I did a lot last semester was give myself incentives to finish an assignment if I was procrastinating on it. Here's an example: I finished class on Thursdays at 1:45 PM and for me, that was prime nap time hour. I also didn't have classes on Friday. Some days I had assignments that if I finished, I wouldn't have anything to do for the weekend. So that should be incentive enough but sometimes it wasn't. So I would tell myself "you can't go to sleep until you finish your communications homework" and it works, and I get my assignments finished and have a nice long weekend of no homework. Who wouldn't want that?

5. Buy a planner and use it.

My fifth and final tip is to buy a planner. It doesn't have to be a fancy one, but get one. Write down all of your assignments, due dates, and also give yourself a one day reminder. Something else that also helps me is having what I need to do written down right in front of me. I have weekly and daily today sticky notes and on those notes I write down......well.....what I have to do for that day and week (pretty self explanatory right?) I don't just use it for classes though, but also for clubs and other activities I participate in. I put these notes somewhere I'll always see them (or even multiple places!) like my desk.

Here's an extra tip: When it comes to putting dates in your planner, see if your teacher uploaded his or her syllabus before the first day of class. Print it out and transfer all the dates into your planner. That way, you already know what you have to do for that class and you could even start some assignments ahead if possible!

I hope at least one of these tips have been helpful for someone out there. Let's go into this upcoming semester with positive thoughts and good study habits! Good luck to everyone out there!