On Sunday I woke up early to get breakfast with my parents at a diner before I went back to school. The diner is right on main street, in my town, by the water. After waffles and pancakes we drove down the street see the water which just a few weeks ago had been frozen. Despite the 40 degree temperatures, it felt just like spring. The vibrant blue of the water with the sun shining down on it made me wish for a hot afternoon at the beach, but instead I was headed back up to school.
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The problem with school breaks is that they never seem to last long enough. Especially now that its nearing the end of the spring semester. Due dates for finals and projects are creeping up faster and faster, and school is becoming significantly less interesting. The second half of the semester is always an uphill climb after midterms. At this point classes and boring and the workload increases, does anyone still want to be in school? After catching a glimpse of the long summer break filled with sleeping late and good food, it's hard to imagine spending six more weeks at school.
Here are some of my tips to survive the rest of the semester. If you have any others feel free to comment below!
1) Organize~ Clean out your notebooks, folders, binders, or anything else you bring to class. Nothing is worse than a notebook with paper stuffed in the pages. As if going to class isn't horrible enough some days, do you really want to deal with a messy notebook. You'll feel so much better if your notebooks and folders are clean, it'll will make you want to take neater notes, as well.
Buy a folder for each class and put all of the stray papers in it's designated folder. This will be helpful when it's time to study for finals. You won't have to worry about digging through every notebook and your bag to find that old quiz from the fifth week of class.
2) Read~ By this time in the semester you're probably sick of staring at the same textbooks, but it's crucial that you keep up. For some classes, you'll never use the textbook, but in others if you skip a week of reading you'll never pass the exams. At this point in the semester you know which category all of your classes fall under, so prepare accordingly.
Plan to read the assigned chapter at least a night before the class. You will not only be prepared for the lecture, but you'll have something to contribute if your class requires participation. It's even more helpful if you take notes while you're reading and write down any questions you have. It's much better to go into a lecture knowing a little bit about the topic, than nothing at all.
3) Write Down Assignments~ You may not have seen your planner since the first week of classes, but this is the time to break it out. As the semester draws to a close assignments and exams start to pile up, and before you know it you're nearly drowning in work. To prevent any surprise due dates, make sure to write down your assignments in an agenda with a calendar. Having the entire month laid out in front of you with any due dates or appointments written in is very helpful.
4) Go Outside~ Finally, the weather is starting to get warmer. If you go to school in the north the snow is starting to melt for good and you can (almost) see the grass again. As soon as it's warm enough, go outside! Spending an hour or two in the sun during the day is going to have a huge positive impact on your mood.
If you're worried about studying for finals, bring your books outside. You may not get quite as much done as you would in the library, but it's healthy to get outside even if it's only for a few minutes!
5) Spend Time With Your Friends~ Before you know it, you'll be packing up your room for the summer and heading home for almost four months. These are your last few weeks to spend with your friends at school before the fall, so make it count! Enjoy the changing temperatures and extra hours of daylight.
Plan to read the assigned chapter at least a night before the class. You will not only be prepared for the lecture, but you'll have something to contribute if your class requires participation. It's even more helpful if you take notes while you're reading and write down any questions you have. It's much better to go into a lecture knowing a little bit about the topic, than nothing at all.
3) Write Down Assignments~ You may not have seen your planner since the first week of classes, but this is the time to break it out. As the semester draws to a close assignments and exams start to pile up, and before you know it you're nearly drowning in work. To prevent any surprise due dates, make sure to write down your assignments in an agenda with a calendar. Having the entire month laid out in front of you with any due dates or appointments written in is very helpful.
4) Go Outside~ Finally, the weather is starting to get warmer. If you go to school in the north the snow is starting to melt for good and you can (almost) see the grass again. As soon as it's warm enough, go outside! Spending an hour or two in the sun during the day is going to have a huge positive impact on your mood.
If you're worried about studying for finals, bring your books outside. You may not get quite as much done as you would in the library, but it's healthy to get outside even if it's only for a few minutes!
5) Spend Time With Your Friends~ Before you know it, you'll be packing up your room for the summer and heading home for almost four months. These are your last few weeks to spend with your friends at school before the fall, so make it count! Enjoy the changing temperatures and extra hours of daylight.
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