How to Start Fall Semester Right?
After weeks of endless free time and relaxation, the beginning of the fall term can be a shock to your system. If you dont want to fall behind from the start of the semester, follow our tips that will make a transition from idling to full-on studying a lot easier.
Identify Your Goals
How can you get anywhere, if you dont know where you want to end up? Before creating a step-by-step plan for this term, you need to identify the goals you wish to accomplish. They can be either academic or social, financial or romantic. Here are some questions that might help you set your goals:
- How often do you want to go out with your friends?
- Which clubs do you wish to join?
- How many points do you wish to add to your average test score?
- Which events would you like to attend?
- Where can you find a date?
Make sure your goals are ambitious but reachable. Dont aim too high, or you might end up disappointed in yourself if you can't achieve all your goals by the end of the term.
Fill In Your Calendar
You can try to keep all the assignments and due dates in your head or scribble notes here and there, but a calendar will make your life so much easier in the long run. Start by entering all your test and exam dates, club gatherings, classes, and tutoring sessions. As the semester progresses, you will add due dates for all your assignments and papers. As a result, one look at your calendar will let you know when and where you need to be. But more importantly, you will realistically assess your free time. You will be able to truly relax, without the constant fear of missing submission dates marring your thoughts.
A good calendar will allow you to quickly get settled into your new study routine if you use it to create a schedule for the duration of the term. Make your classes, club meetings, and outings into a weekly routine. This way your transitional period from holidays to studies will go much more smoothly.
Check Out The Syllabus
This task is closely linked with the previous one. Reading the syllabus will allow you to gather information about all the important dates, that will make it to your calendar. You will also understand, what you will have to learn, and what the professor might expect from you. Most of the questions you have about any course will be covered in the syllabus. Read it and ask only pertinent questions that were not covered in it. You will earn your professors eternal gratitude for not asking pointless questions and wasting valuable time in class.
Attend First Classes
You might be sorely tempted to hit the snooze button one more time, missing the early morning classes. You would definitely prefer having lunch with friends to attending boring lectures. But keep focused. First classes are designed to let you get acquainted with new professors and classmates, get all the necessary info about the course and make a favorable impression on your instructors. You do not want to be the only person in class the professor doesnt recognize a few weeks into the term.
Find Time To Relax
There is no reason to burn the candle at both ends in the first weeks of the term when there is still so much to do. So try not to overexert yourself. Find some time to relax and unwind with your friends. Go out, rekindle old friendships, meet new people. Balance your hard work on weekdays with fun weekend activities, this way you will always have enough energy for your studies and extracurriculars.
How do you usually start your term? Are you perfectly organized and ready, or do you prefer to deal with things as they come up? We hope our tips will make the beginning of fall term more bearable for you.