Syllabus week [sil-uh-buh s] [week] (n.): the first week of classes, usually indicates a lack of responsibilities and an excess of social gatherings (drinking).
In order to start the school year off right, one should consider how to successfully manage their time and activities during syllabus week. This is a few simple steps to help you survive syllabus week at the University of Idaho.
Hydrate:
While you should all drink water because it’s good for you, you should take extra caution to make sure you’ve got your trusty water bottle with you at all time this week. Not only is it late August and the days are hot, but add walking to and from classes on top of that and your body is screaming for more hydration than usual.
Another good reason to drink lots of water this week is to combat the dehydration process that usually begins about 8 p.m. every night this week. I was once advised to drink a glass of water for every beverage I had that night: Best. Advice. Ever. There’s nothing worse than being the most hungover person in class the next day, trust me.
So grab your HydroFlask, Contigo bottle, Gatorade squirter or PINK! Nation bottle and drink up. It’s going to be a long week.
Make Friends
College may feel like a one man/woman show some days, but we all know it’s the support system that gets you through. The art of balancing a solid social life while keeping your grades high is making connections. Connections in and outside of class, like friend-ing the girl who sits next to you in ISEM in case you don’t make it one morning. It’s also vital to make friends outside of your own living group. Branch out and you won’t be disappointed on a Saturday night when the rest of your house in is recovery-mode from a party you missed.
Know Your Limit
Be it credits, drinks or social commitments, know when to just say ‘no.’
The best way to regret the night before is to take a shot that you’re well aware you cannot handle. Remember the 20/80 rule: you feel 20 percent of the effects of the drink instantly and the other 80 percent takes a while to kick in.
When it comes to classes and school commitments, it’s good to be involved and push yourself but the best way to become a stressed out disaster is by biting off more than you can chew. Don’t be afraid to drop the 300 level art class that you took just for fun.
GO TO CLASS
This is possibly the most important of my advice to you, since that’s why you pay nearly four grand each semester.
It’s not worth an absence when you literally have to just show up and listen to your professor read of the academic integrity policy and introduce yourself to the class (from 100 level to 400 level, this is always the routine on the first day.) You will regret not attending the first week of classes when you realize come mid-terms that you can’t miss any more days and you really need to finish a paper that you procrastinated.
Not to mention the best way to end up on your professor's bad side is being notoriously absent in the first week. 
Call Home
If not for your own sanity, then for your parents'. They’re more than likely looking for a sign of your existence everyday via Facebook, so why not just call them?
Sometimes all the change happening so quickly can bring on some serious late-summer time blues, best cured by a chat from home.
Ditch Your Bad Habits
Come the Sunday following syllabus week, an important decision must be made. You can either decide to spend the rest of the semester like you spent the last week: hungover and exhausted, or you can form good habits.
The impulse to go out on a Wednesday can easily be cured by a good book or Netflix special. Just remember, you have the rest of the year to hit up every poppin’ party, while your grades (the reason you’re here) can’t wait.
