Hello everyone! I am thrilled to be back and interacting with you all. I’m hopeful this year will be a great one. To help everyone make the best of this year, I’d like to share some advice based on my experience so far.
The very first thing I like to do when I start classes is make a schedule! I cannot emphasize enough how helpful it is to have all of your assignments and due dates in one organized location. Typically, I start by going through each of my syllabi and writing down due dates for exams, readings, projects, or any other assignments for the entire semester. This way, you don’t have to worry about updating throughout the semester.
You may be wondering what the best format is to keep track of all this information, so I’ll let you in on a little secret regarding this: it is up to YOU! You are the person who knows your preferences best. If you enjoy writing out your plans on paper, pick out a planner that really makes you excited to find your assignments. I recently ordered this planner at Amazon and I am so excited to use it.
Of course, my style is not everyone’s style, so I recommend searching for one on Amazon or Office Depot (OD has a lot of great deals right now for their Back-to-School sale!).
If writing physically in planners is not on brand for you, check out Google Calendar. With the (free) application, you can make and manage several “calendars” simultaneously, so you can have categories for each of your classes, or for academic and non-academic purposes, or however else you want to categorize. There are many different options to make “events” with, including color-codes, reminders, guests, and locations (and likely much more that I’m not familiar with personally).
Example of schedule with multiple calendars and events
Two different ways of making events: left - quick way; right - detailed way
However you approach it, make sure to give yourself time to work (and to not work). As a chronic procrastinator myself, I’ve learned the hard way that doing things last-minute does not teach you anything, it just trains your short-term memory.
With all that being said, you do not need to use this as a basis to judge yourself, and just because you do things a little differently does not mean you are doing things “wrong”. One of the bad habits many students have is comparing themselves to others, whether it be by social media, academics, extracurriculars, or otherwise. Pobody’s nerfect, and people tend to present the best version of themselves to the outside world. Comparing yourself to these versions of people can be unhealthy for your self-image, so please try to refrain from doing so! I struggle to follow my own advice sometimes, but generally try to keep in mind that a lot of people are in the same boat as you, and not all that glitters is gold.
If you ever struggle with any of this, or anything else for that matter, there are always people around to help you out. Our FLI Ambassador team and the SSI team can always serve as a point of reference if you need help if we can’t help you out ourselves.
With all that being said, I genuinely hope that each and every one of you has a fantastic year, and cannot wait to see you guys logged into our FLI events!