School has generally come pretty easily to me. I never really had to study for anything in high school; note-taking was simple; homework was easy. However, I went into college with a knowledge that it was going to be vastly different than high school. Classes were going to be harder, studying was going to more of a focal point in my day-to-day life, and exams were going to be at least twice as hard as those in high school. I expected sleep-depravation, gallons of coffee, and extreme stress. Surprise! None of those predictions actually came true. It's shockingly easy to avoid stress in college, and every day I learn a new way to do so.
The first week of class, which for me was August 29th, I went through and looked over all of my syllabi and my due dates. I religiously documented every assignment, essay, and exam from all my classes into my planner (I also have a different 15 week spreadsheet for each one of my 5 classes, but I can admit that it's kind of excessive). That first week of classes, I wrote two essays and got jumpstarts on all of the readings for the next week. I will note, too, that one of those essays that I wrote wasn't due until September 30th. Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that I don't procrastinate. This was something I heavily relied on in high school. I knew that wasn't going to cut it in college. Maybe my writing an essay a month before it was due was a little overboard, but hey, I didn't have to worry about it for that month, and I could focus on other things.
Speaking of focus, here's something that I'm a little ashamed to admit (but not really): I have yet to skip a single class. In fact, I have yet to be late to a class. Yes, I've gone to the class where I knew all we were doing was watching a documentary (it was in Sociology and it was fascinating). I've shown up to all my 8 ams, even when I had 0 want to get out of bed. As a result, my teachers know me and they know how I learn. For example, my Statistics professor - who I had spoken to, directly, once before this - knew my name. This seems like a small feat, but in college, you can't expect any professor to know your face, much less your name. Because I had shown up to all of his classes, when I didn't understand something, he would notice and go over it again. He knew my face and he knew when I didn't get something. Showing up to class is important, not only for your relationship with your professors, but for your learning. Often times, that one thing you didn't understand from the reading, your professor will explain it in class. A lot of exam material is only covered in lecture. Moral of this story - just show up to class.
Apart from actual class, assignments, academics, taking care of yourself is crucial right now. I'm a nursing student, and in nursing school they are very enthusiastic about "self care". I think this has been critical in my lack of stress this semester, and I think that every college student needs to have the same enthusiasm for "self care". Go for a walk, watch some Netflix, go get comfort food. Essentially, do something that makes you happy and that doesn't have to do with due dates and essays. Take care of you and your academics will definitely reflect that care.
I'm 100 percent not trying to say that people who are stressed in college are invalid in their stress - stress is, well, stressful. It's not always solved by just going to class or doing an essay early to get it out of the way. There are a lot of factors that play into being stressed in college - homesickness, illness, family issues, mental health, there is an abundance of variables in stress. What I am trying to say, is that, however you deal with it personally, try to deal with stress. Make it safe, make it healthy, but make it however works best for you. For me, it's writing essays a month before they're due and going to every single class, but for other people it's going to counseling, or it's playing a sport, or it's getting tutoring. Find your own way to handle your stress, and I say handle because it's nearly impossible to outrightly get rid of stress. My title is deceiving, because I definitely still get stressed. However, I have my ways to get rid of some of that stress. I will never not stress out before a Theology exam, but I know there are ways to put my mind at ease.
Your first two years of college is supposed to be the time where you're settling into a college-student routine, establishing yourself, getting comfortable with your major and your future career. Don't let these adjustment years get the better of you by letting stress overtake you. Save your stress for junior year - I hear we'll have a lot.
Breathe, relax, and study hard. Four years go by fast!
