College can be exhausting, here are some tips to make your journey a little easier...
1. Limit your class skips.
For my college, we take attendance. This is not the case for every college, but what I mean is personally set yourself a limit. For myself, I try to set two skips for personal days, unless I'm horrendously sick. Something I've learned — skipping a college class will get you more behind than anything. You get behind on your learning and your work. Besides that, missing too many can make you look unprofessional and like you just don't care.
2. Take notes!
Taking notes can be extremely boring, but I assure you it is the best thing to do, especially in your harder classes. Nine times out of ten, your teacher will mention what will be on your test. If anything, I found taking notes helps me remember better. If I go blank in the middle of a test I can think back to my notes and what I wrote down.
3. Giving up your social life.....
Unfortunately, if you are someone who wants to stay on top of your grades, you can kiss your social life goodbye. It totally stinks, but sometimes studying for your quiz is more important than going bowling with all the girls. Now, taking a break is important, but when do we learn to say yes or to say no? What I have learned is simply that if going bowling is going to affect my quiz grade, then no matter how much they beg, I must say no!
4. Giving up sleep to study.
We've all done this, and sometimes it is necessary to stay up later to ensure that your grade will be satisfactory. A lot of us seem to do this, and we all like to talk about how we only got two hours of sleep because of our big test the next day. You have to be careful with this, though. Most of us have pulled all-nighters where we rely solely on coffee, but you will crash eventually. To properly prepare to take a big test, your mind and body have to have rest. To better ensure this, schedule your study times over a period of days, and then lastly give yourself a review day before the test. This will ensure you can get the proper amount of studying done as well as sleep.
5. Remember what you are there for.
As we get to mid-semester, our burning passion for our major can kind of dull down as we drown in our homework and studies. When this happens, I try to remember why I chose this major to begin with. Taking time to reconnect with your passion is important. When you remember why you are here, and try to keep in mind that you love what you do it can drive you to study more. Not only this, but you will find that you enjoy it more.
6. Know that it is a small stepping stone to better your future
While college can seem to drag on, you know in your heart its just a small amount of time that will prepare you for your career. On the days that I feel overwhelmed, or so tired I could sleep for days, I have to bear in mind that this is in God's plan. Sometimes you wonder if you've made a mistake, or if you are following the right dream. We have to know that this small struggle now, is going to lead to us serving God and fulfilling his plan for us.
These tips I've learned all revolve around trusting in God and knowing that he has a plan for my future. Sometimes you feel like you won't survive college, but we must know that God tells us he would never put more on us than what we can bear. Remembering that God is right there with you, through your studies, when you're in class and when you're overwhelmed, is the biggest tip to surviving college I can give.
