Coming back to school after a long and relaxing summer is the perfect way to “reset” your academic life. If your spring semester wasn’t as good as you would have hoped, then now is the time for you to reflect and prepare for the coming semester! I like to sit down and evaluate my last semester to see things that worked for me, things that I can improve on, and things that didn’t work so well. By doing this, I get to know myself better and I am able to set myself up for success at the beginning of this semester. Once I have evaluated myself and my performance in the past, I make a game plan for the coming semester. If I find that I struggle with time management then I try to set aside an hour on Sunday’s to plan out the coming week so that every hour within that next week has a purpose. If I find that I struggled with studying efficiently, then I would plan to have more alone study time rather than group studying so I am able to stay focused. If I find that I worked too many hours last semester and it impacted my grades, then I would plan to work less hours and spend more time studying. With all of this being said, the key component really is balance. Once you are able to achieve balance with your social life, your sleep schedule, your grades, your work life, and every other aspect of your life, is when you will feel in control. This balance may take some people four years to do, or even four months to do. Every person is different and every person is unique.
After evaluating my previous semester I set goals and expectations for my coming semester to further advance myself into the best version of me. Some of these goals may be 1) Studying for at least 2 hours every day including weekends, 2) Not accepting any social plans until all of my homework is done, or 3) reviewing the textbook before every single lecture. Once I have decided on a goal for the semester I make sure to communicate it to my co-workers, mentors, advisors, and others in order to have that accountability partner to keep me and my goals accountable! At the beginning of every semester I also like to start on a high note. In order to plan ahead and prepare for my semester I start by tackling my syllabus. I read through the ENTIRE syllabus and then print it out for easy access. Following that, I like to use my syllabus to mark my planner for any important due dates and assignments. (With the uncertainty of COVID-19, I will write everything in pencil this year.) Once that is all done, I usually go out and buy a large 5-subject notebook to keep all of my notes organized in one accessible place. After all of that is done I like to take a break and relax until classes start! Planning a relaxation day to curl up with Netflix and take a bubble bath is my favorite way to unwind before classes start up. I hope this helps you Monarchs!!
