The second semester is a trying time. With Spring Break #2k18 and 3 glorious months of time off, it gets hard to focus and to study. Especially at Creighton with basketball season being in the swing of things, it's extremely difficult to find time to study when you're cheering on one of the best collegiate basketball teams in the nation. All of these tips have helped me maintain a busy schedule as a second semester freshman student, and have allowed me the time to get good grades and to hang out with friends, and root for my Bluejays basketball this semester.

1. Get enough sleep & eat healthy

I lumped these two together because they're both the most important. You must have a decent sleep schedule and eat healthy. Take it from someone who has struggled first semester with going to bed anytime between 1am-6am.

2. Don't be afraid to take study breaks

This is a must. In order to successfully learn the material that you are studying, you must take breaks. Whether this includes chatting with a friend or your roommate for a few minutes, getting dinner and eating while you study, reading a chapter of your favorite book, or catching up on Grey's, taking breaks can be 5 minutes to 30 minutes long. But you must take breaks in order to let your brain rest.

3. Pay attention and take notes in class

Lord knows I struggled with this one first semester. My professors didn't care if I was on my phone, so I tried to pay attention in class but my phone was constantly there as a distractor. I learned that for me, I have to put my phone away in my backpack so I can't even see it otherwise I'll be tempted. What also helps is that I got an Apple Watch for Christmas, so I can see my notifications that way instead of having my phone out on my desk. This isn't necessary of course.

4. Coffee

Okay this is a true lifesaver for me. I run on coffee and ambition, so everyday I try to get in a caramel macchiato or a white chocolate mocha from Starbs. This definitely cuts down on my naps, because first semester I took a 2 hour nap everyday no matter how busy my schedule was. But now I've only taken one nap in the past 2 weeks of this semester. #godblesscoffee

5. Make new friends, but keep the old

It's always okay to make new friends, even though you have other friends. Different opportunities come with having a wide variety of friends, so I encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and talk to new people!

6. Exercise

This isn't the most important, but it does make a difference in the way you feel and the energy that you have to go to class and to get your homework done. My recent #MotivationMonday has been my Apple Watch because it has an activity app on it that tracks your daily exercise, standing, and active calories that you burn. It has been super helpful to me when I see one of the "rings" on the app be fulfilled, it just makes me want to fulfill all of them in a day.

7. Don't be afraid to stand up for what you believe in

I'm gonna be honest here. This has been my biggest struggle of college so far. I'm not sure if it is with just my group of friends, or if it is like this for every college student. But whenever I have a different opinion about anything, I feel like I get shunned for it. So ALWAYS stand up for what you think. Just be prepared to have your facts ready and in hand, and make sure you don't just agree with the other person/group because it is the easiest way out of the conflict of interest.