Hey guys!
Many of us are starting to finish off the semester. With all of what is happening, at least in my situation, I am not sure if I will be returning for a fall semester on campus. This saddens me because it would be my first semester in my new apartment. I was really looking forward moving in with my friends, cooking meals, and decorating. However, things happen for a reason. As an attempt to maintain some normalcy in my life, I am still preparing for my next semester in college the same way I did before. In this post, I will explain how I get ready for a new semester and hopefully you guys are able to learn something from it. It can be exciting to enter a new semester but it is just as stressful not knowing what to expect.
This May, I officially finish my first year in college! It is so crazy how fast it went! Next year, I am halfway through! Due to how fast it goes, I had to learn to adapt and what works for me fast. I did not want to fall behind so I tried to always do what would keep on track. My school is semester based and we register for classes towards the end of each semester. We all get assigned a registration time slot and date to pick out our classes.
For classes, what I normally do is look over the class lists our school publishes and pick out the ones that seem interesting to me from the sections I need. I then proceed to checking the time and dates they are held at. This is important for me because I am not a real fan of having classes back to back. If I could avoid this, I am the happiest! I add them all to a calendar and see how my schedule would look. If one is too early or too late and isn't necessary, I eliminate it from my options.
I then proceed to look at reviews of the classes by other students. Now, this is tricky. I do not entirely take everything said in those reviews seriously because I believe that every student has a different experience with professors. It is definitely something I take into consideration, but does not determine if I keep or not the class. If I obviously see something negative repeatedly, then I do move that class to the bottom of my list or to the side.
Now that my list has been narrowed done, I pick my favorite and most convenient class out of each section. Sometimes, I am able to get a class that I truly wanted; other times, I get left with or forced to take a class that I might not be to fond with but have to take. So far, I have really had great experiences with all my classes, even the ones I was not so sure of at first. I have learned to not judge a class so quick and go into it open minded because it can be not so bad.
After having my schedule finalized, I look at old syllabuses or old reviews of the material that was needed. I browse for old books and look online if I can get them used or if they are specific to my school's library or bookstore. I also make sure to see if I could find a digital version of it for free! That is always a bonus! I was lucky enough to find all my books online for my last semester for free so I always able to save so much money. I do not purchase anything as I am browsing; I like to wait until an update syllabus is released or until the professor says something because plans could always change. This is just something I like to do to prepare for later and to estimate about how much I would need to pay for all the material.
I am not a digital note taker. I am barely transitioning to being one. I like to take my notes on paper in a notebook for most of my classes because it really helps with studying them later, but I think for my sophomore year, I will be doing things a little different. What I would normally do is just go buy a three-subject notebook for three out of four classes I would take. I actually have a blog post of what I buy for college, so make sure to check that out as well for more detail! For this new semester, I think that I will only buy to small notebooks for my major classes and will be taking digital notes on my iPad for my two general education classes. I like the idea of having hard copies of the notes that pertain to my major/career. On the same subject of notes, I would typically create a new notebook on OneNote and name it the semester and year. Under that notebook, I would open up for sections for each class. I like using OneNote due to how convenient is since I can open it in both my iPad and laptop! In fact, I could open it anywhere and this is convenient when studying at the student lounge. Preparing the items I will be using for the upcoming semester early helps me because I do not have to stress or deal with it the first week(s) of school!
The last thing I will do is plan and set up how my days will look in the new semester. For this, I use my best friend, Google Calendar. I import all the classes I will be taking onto it and add any clubs that I plan doing. As of now, I am waiting to see if I will be getting a job next semester; but if I did have one, I would add my hours onto it as well. After doing that, I am able to see what "free time" I have. During the time I have no classes, clubs, or work, I will add a breakfast, lunch, and dinner time first. I like doing this because I no longer have the excuse to say "I forgot" or "I did not have time" to get food. Then, I add time slots for working out, studying, and relaxing. This helps him stay on track and not goof around! I personally think that this made my second semester in school go by a lot more smoother. I used my time to the fullest and it made me feel very productive! Having a basis as to what your schedule will look like the next semester helps you not feel so disoriented once you start. It will be like you have a plan to follow that tells you what you will need to do when!
Prepping for a new semester early is so helpful to do and quite overlooked. Leaving all of this to the last minute can be stressful. It is not fun starting of your new semester stressed, trust me. You should be able to enjoy your first day and have a clear mind to take in all the information given. If you do this early enough, once all the professors are done telling you what is expected and need, you will only have very little to do. You would already have done it or looked into it so this information would not come to you as a shock. I really recommend you guys doing this whether you are barely going into your first semester of college or just continuing. It will make it so much easier transitioning between terms!
Let me know if you prepare early for your new semester and how you do it? I would love to hear about it and maybe even try new ways!
Until next time,
Diana