College is an opportunity to choose how you spend your time.
College is an opportunity to choose how you spend your time.
Sure, you have to go to class (GO TO CLASS. DO IT.) and you have to study at least a little bit (I don't let myself into the GarageBand app until my textbook chapters are read).
Besides that, the rest of the time is yours. I won't tell you how to spend that time, but I can give a little bit of advice about how to make the most of your hour-and-fifeteen-minute lectures. I'll even be nice and give it in list form, so when I come back here to read my own advice, it's all organized.
Let's get started.
1. Get to the hall.
I am a slow walker and I live on the north end of campus, so it takes a while for me to get to my classes in the middle or the south end. I try to pack up my backpack and get my shoes and hat on twenty-five minutes before class starts.
For my purposes, I don't bring what I don't need. I grab a tote bag and stuff it with notebooks so I can take notes and a binder for any handouts I might get. I like taking notes with pencil and paper because there is no GarageBand there to distract me. And not having it then means it becomes a treat when I've checked off everything on my to-do list at the end of the day.
2. Get to the room.
After I've locked the door behind me and gotten out of the dorm, it's time to find my next class. An app on my phone gives me a campus map, and I use it because I still get lost sometimes figuring out which is BA and BAC (these are building codes for halls that are right next to each other for business classes. I have confused one for the other so often, it's essentially a flip of a coin that I get in the right one any given time).
Next is to get a seat. I try to get to class early to get seats near the front or the middle, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. Sometimes I just walk too slow. Sometimes it's more convenient for large groups of other people (like the business students that live right by BAC).
3. Get ready for the lecture.
I get out my notebooks and get the date on the next blank page so I stay a little bit organized. I might keep hydrated with a water bottle or munch on a snack. I do these quickly because I'm noisy, and it won't be appreciated by everyone else if I am eating like this just as the professor says, "I hope you heard that concept because it's on the test."
They didn't hear that concept. I didn't hear that concept. I was eating.
Now my snack is hostility-flavored. A bit too salty for my liking.
So get the eating out of the way before class starts.
I hope you use these tips to make your evening classes the best they can be. Now maybe I'll stop bringing a pillow to my 4:35 PM...
