By Athirah Mohammad
Believe it or not, it’s October already. That also means a lot of you are heading back to campus very soon! However, some of us are attending class virtually while others are hybrid due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
With the global pandemic raging, the start of a new semester will be extremely different and nothing is quite the same especially for the new intake students. They might struggle a lot to adapt to this new way of learning since everything needs to be executed online in line with the recent shift to online teaching and learning.
Regardless of whether you’re starting your first semester of college, or returning after a truly necessary break, it’s an ideal opportunity to begin contemplating how you can do your absolute best in the new semester.
In fact, I myself am arranging my semester out this week. So, here are some tips I like to share to help you plan for your upcoming new college semester.
Get back on a good sleep schedule
Everyone needs to know that having a regular bedtime is important, especially if you’re planning on waking up early. When students wake up earlier, they have more time to get things accomplished, such as eating breakfast. Students will also have enough time to plan their day efficiently to ensure the whole day runs smoothly.
However, most of us suck at sleeping because those who always procrastinate tend to complete their work at late night. As we can see, falling asleep in class usually happens when students go to bed really late.
All you can do before the new semester starts is to adjust your habits. If your body is accustomed to going to bed late, you may find it uncomfortable to go to bed earlier at first. Hence, don’t make drastic changes but try to start slowly by sleeping just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual. Do this gradually until you’ll have no problem falling asleep at that new time. Bear in mind that, it is important to get enough sleep in order to feel more energised and awake.
Clean your computer desktop
Laptop, tablets and your smartphone will be your go-to technologies when you start to be a university student. Every student knows their computer is like their lifeline, it gets used every day, all day, particularly during this pandemic time. They are light, very accessible and easy to carry everywhere you go. For example, taking notes during lectures and finishing an assignment at the coffee shop.
The way to start your new semester is to clean your computer. You can start by going through your folders and delete all the junks and unnecessary documents, photos and videos. Therefore, your computer will have more storage for the upcoming semester.
As an online learner, you can always buy a USB to save the important files that you might use in the future. If you are in a tight budget, you can always download free online cloud such as Google Drive or Drop Box.
Create folders for your upcoming classes
Since online classes require us to spend most of our time in front of the laptop, organising your laptop will enable you to find the folder easily and be ready for the new semester with everything in place.
Name the files based on the subject you take during the semester probably the best way to ease yourself back into study mode. For example, by putting the subject code. You also need to remember that you always need to back it up in your cloud. Having all the files on the cloud is very useful because the students will get to access during their free time.
Start filling in your planner
As a student, living an organised lifestyle is key to being successful. We know it’s hard to get back to the routine after a long good break semester. Thus, setting up a planner will help students to plan their daily activities. For example, an academic planner gives them the much-needed aid to get more organised, with no extra stress at all. One can write down their study time, mark all important dates for tests and assignment deadlines.
With the planner, all the assignments and to-do lists arranged in a systematic manner. Hence, you will learn to prioritise your works effectively and also finish your tasks within a definite period of time. Not only that, filling in the planner will also allow you to build momentum and get inspired to work harder since you know your goals well.
If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail. Therefore, making the extra effort to prepare for your first few weeks of the new semester will put you on the right track towards achieving your goals.
I hope this will give you some ideas to manage your study plan! Wishing all of you the best and good luck! ***