So, you're enjoying winter break right now. You really, really don’t want to think ahead, but I'm going to give you some tough love. The second semester is around the corner, and unless you have a master plan (you probably don’t), you're probably going to get a reality check after those first tests come back. Here are some tips to help you navigate second semester.

1. Get some sleep!

This is the biggest mistake college students make when they come back from the holidays. If you can function without a lot of sleep anyway, that is totally fine, but begin the semester with no sleep, and you'll find yourself stumbling right from the start. This is especially important since, at the beginning of the semester, you don't really have a lot of work. So get a good night's rest, or at least power nap! SOMETHING, MAN. As the semester goes on, the workload increases, and you may find yourself not even having a chance to take a quick nap.

2. Get to work right away!

Cramming is a very hit-or-miss strategy at mid-terms. Don't want to make it so hard on yourself? Start studying right away. No, you don't have to learn the book cover-to-cover in a week, but make sure you actually do work in the first month. It may sound as though you're being a try-hard, but you're really not. You're putting in the work that's needed, or a little bit more, to make the rest of the semester, or the subject in general, so much easier. Remember, playing catch-up, late nights, and insomnia sounds fun, but like many false college myths, it's not.

3. Please do not go bankrupt.

I usually advise this pretty hard to kids coming back to campus. You may feel the urge to waste all of your money, especially because you just came back from home-cooked meals and holiday treats, right? Wrong, if you don't want to live on peanuts the last two weeks of the semester, it's best to accept the fact that the holidays are over, and get back to spending smart, especially if you don't have a meal plan. Tough love? Sure, but you will thank me later.

4. Have some fun.

Yeah, OK, this might be contradictory to what I said in No. 2, but give me a chance to explain. When you come back to campus, you should not be focused on all play and no work, but it also shouldn't be the other way around. Getting burned out from work can kill a successful semester just as easily. So find a good balance and, although you may be a little busy, that Dean's List letter will be worth it.