As the second or first week of the school year starts and I am looking at my syllabi I am noticing how compact my work load is going to be. So I have some tips on how to stay relaxed and not overly stressed as the semester goes on.

My first tip is that students should take one whole weekend to just do homework. Getting ahead of the work load might sound boring and not many people want to do it. However, if you think about it getting ahead is way better than procrastinating at the end of the semester. I only have Monday and Wednesday classes so I really only have one day to do all my homework in between the class times. This coming Labor Day weekend I will be doing a bit of catch up for homework and also I will start on work that won't be due for a while so I am not rushing around trying to finish everything at the same time.

My next tip is to find a good place to study and do homework. The library is a really good place to do homework and study. At Dominican's library there is a loud section, where students can meet in groups to work together, and there is a quiet section where students are silent. I like this setup very much. This way if I want to study or write a paper in quiet I won't be disturbed by a group working on a project together and being loud with each other. An awesome thing about going to the library is that you get away from the dorms or where ever you are living. This way you get out of your comfy home space and will actually work for hours and not just work for an hour then take a nap or watch Netflix. Or you can set aside a special place in your room to do homework. Most likely this space would be your desk but it even could be a living room or a type of neutral space in the room. This way you are not on your bed where you sleep and relax but you don't have to go out of the dorm too.

My favorite tip is to get away. It is sometimes nice to just get off of campus and get away from it all. Sometimes being on campus itself is stressful and especially if you are living on campus too, we bring all our baggage into our room but when our room isn't relaxing at all then it is great to just get off on campus. I recently have found a park a few minutes from my school where if I am stressed and need to get away I can go there. I went on Monday and it was wonderful just to get off of campus and away from the stress of school and roommates. But of course keep in mind what you have to do for classes and keep track of how long you can be gone. You could also bring some homework with you if you can so that way you get some stuff done but also get away from everything.

These tips are really useful. I am going to be using all of these tips for this semester and for the rest of my schooling career.