How To Survive The First Few Weeks Of A New Semester, From The Senior Who's Been There Before

How To Survive The First Few Weeks Of A New Semester, From The Senior Who's Been There Before

Trust me, you'll appreciate it.

Lindsey McEvoy
Lindsey McEvoy Oct 2, 2018
47
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Getting back into the swing of things can be tough, let's face it. You've spent the last few months not thinking about schoolwork, stress, or how many things you still have to get done before the day ends. Maybe you went abroad, maybe you had a summer job or internship, or maybe just enjoyed pure relaxation without having any alarms set on your phone for the past few months. Whatever it may be, it can be difficult to hit the ground running and pick back up the workload with a busy schedule.

So, whether you're a freshman, sophomore, junior or fellow senior, here are a few things to help you survive the first few weeks of the new semester.

Keep a planner.

This is going to be your saving grace once classes pick up and professors start piling on work. I'm a pretty organized person and I like having a to-do list with everything in the same place. If you can get into the routine of writing down all of your assignments, projects, meetings, and important dates, I promise you'll never miss an assignment. It's also a good time-management method that helps you organize your time accordingly.

Get on a normal sleep schedule.

Coming back from summer vacation, you might be on a weird sleep schedule. It happens to the best of us. It's a luxurious feeling to be able to finally wake up at 11:30 in the morning and stay up until 1 a.m. by choice. Once school starts back up, classes begin pretty early, so getting used to being up early in the morning, maybe even before the sun rises, and staying awake for the majority of the day is definitely going to help you in the long run.

Get involved on campus.

Whether you're new to campus or have a lot of free time on your hands, get involved in some new clubs or organizations. It's a great way to branch out, meet more people, and spend time with others who have the same interests as you. Even as a senior, I just joined a new club and I'm really excited to be a part of it. Most majors have their own clubs too, which is a great way to help prepare you for a future career in the field.

Organize/redecorate your living space.

This is something that almost everyone can relate to. Once the semester gets going, you're going to be busy with work and other obligations, and this is usually when your living space begins to suffer. I am a pretty neat person, and even I am guilty of this. After the first few weeks of school, my room usually starts to become a tornado of clothes and notebooks on the floor. Before things get too crazy, it's a good idea to take some time to organize your living space and set up those last minute decorations and pictures of friends and family. Otherwise, you'll just keep putting it off and never get to it.

These are just a few things, but they have definitely helped me get back into school-mode for the last 4 years. So to all the students, let's make this year a great one!

Lindsey McEvoy
Lindsey McEvoy Oct 2, 2018
At James Madison

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I'm The Girl Without A 'Friend Group'

And here's why I'm OK with it

Taylor Grace Abrahams
Taylor Grace Abrahams Apr 3, 2017
922607
views

Little things remind me all the time.

For example, I'll be sitting in the lounge with the people on my floor, just talking about how everyone's days went. Someone will turn to someone else and ask something along the lines of, "When are we going to so-and-so's place tonight?" Sometimes it'll even be, "Are you ready to go to so-and-so's place now? Okay, we'll see you later, Taylor!"

It's little things like that, little things that remind me I don't have a "friend group." And it's been like that forever. I don't have the same people to keep me company 24 hours of the day, the same people to do absolutely everything with, and the same people to cling to like glue. I don't have a whole cast of characters to entertain me and care for me and support me. Sometimes, especially when it feels obvious to me, not having a "friend group" makes me feel like a waste of space. If I don't have more friends than I can count, what's the point in trying to make friends at all?

I can tell you that there is a point. As a matter of fact, just because I don't have a close-knit clique doesn't mean I don't have any friends. The friends I have come from all different walks of life, some are from my town back home and some are from across the country. I've known some of my friends for years, and others I've only known for a few months. It doesn't really matter where they come from, though. What matters is that the friends I have all entertain me, care for me, and support me. Just because I'm not in that "friend group" with all of them together doesn't mean that we can't be friends to each other.

Still, I hate avoiding sticking myself in a box, and I'm not afraid to seek out friendships. I've noticed that a lot of the people I see who consider themselves to be in a "friend group" don't really venture outside the pack very often. I've never had a pack to venture outside of, so I don't mind reaching out to new people whenever.

I'm not going to lie, when I hear people talking about all the fun they're going to have with their "friend group" over the weekend, part of me wishes I could be included in something like that. I do sometimes want to have the personality type that allows me to mesh perfectly into a clique. I couldn't tell you what it is about me, but there is some part of me that just happens to function better one-on-one with people.

I hated it all my life up until very recently, and that's because I've finally learned that not having a "friend group" is never going to be the same as not having friends.

SEE ALSO: To The Girls Who Float Between Friend Groups

Cover Image Credit: wordpress.com
Taylor Grace Abrahams
Taylor Grace Abrahams Apr 3, 2017
At University of Missouri

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How To Cope With A Best Friend Breakup


Breaking up with a boyfriend is one thing, but breaking up with your best friend is a whole new level of heartbreak.

Lily Chailosky
Lily Chailosky Jun 20, 2019
534
views

We all know breakups can be tough, but when that breakup happens to be between you and your best friend, things reach a new level of heartbreak. I met my best friend junior year of high school after our Spanish teacher randomly assigned us to be partners; we struggled so much in that class but in the end, we truly became inseparable. When senior year rolled around we were still close as ever; people would often joke that we were sisters because we looked and acted so much alike. We would go on little dates together, go to parties together, and were always the first person we called when something "major happened."

When my best friend's boyfriend of four years cheated on her while we were spring breaking in Europe, it became my duty to make her feel better; I would randomly drop off flowers and little notes to her house, spend countless hours just listening to her cry and vent, and even stopped talking to people associated with her boyfriend so as to show my "support." All of these things were no big deal to me considering I loved this girl like a sister; whatever she needed I was there to give that to her.

Things soon took a sharp turn when we entered not only the same college but the same sorority. While I was struggling with the social aspect of FSU, my best friend soon found new best friends. When I started having major issues with my boyfriend, I would automatically text/call my best friend as she did with me, but instead of support, I got the sense that she was passive and uninterested. Our little dates and goofy inside jokes disappeared and reappeared between her and her new friends, and my comfortableness around her soon turned into insecurity.

Coming to terms with the fact that the girl I knew everything about is now basically a stranger was a hard one to overcome; I didn't want to accept the fact that my best friend decided it was time to find new ones. It's heartbreaking knowing that the special things you shared with a person are now being shared with others, and it's hard to accept the fact that you aren't wanted or needed by the one person you thought would be by your side forever.

Since school has ended I think I have accepted the fact that we're no longer what we used to be. Of course, it still stings when I see social media posts with her new, college friends, but I just have to remind myself that this is part of life and I just have to move on. I will forever cherish the memories I made with her, but it's time to acknowledge that they were made with someone in my past, not with someone in my present.

Lily Chailosky
Lily Chailosky Jun 20, 2019
At Florida State University

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