Welcome, everyone, to an exciting new semester at Delta! It is great to see everyone back, and to see the new faces of the first-year students. I hope everyone is prepared to learn!
In the meantime, I know that many students, including myself, can get the jitters about starting new classes. College can be difficult, stressful, and time-consuming. It can be quite disconcerting starting a new semester. So, to help ease on the stress, how can one best prepare for a semester filled with three or more classes (as a full-time semester)? Here is a list of things you can do now to ease up on the end-of-semester blues later:
- Plan Your Time. I'll be honest with you--this is one area I have struggled with in my life. However, I found that if I do not put together a schedule, especially when working, going to school, etc., my life can get to be very hectic and I get lost around mid-semester. It has been important to my success that I fit in homework and study time, right from week one. This has prevented me from ending up getting behind. Here are some things you want to include in that schedule:
- Times of Classes (of course)
- Work (if you work. If you don't, try scheduling some time for job hunting!)
- Sleep (Yes, you want to schedule time to sleep! 7-8 hours a day is what experts say is best.)
- Homework/study. (Make sure that you do this every week. Give yourself enough time to actually get done what you need. Rule of thumb is for every 1 hour in the classroom you need 1 1/2-2 hours studying. For 12 credits, aim for 18-24 hours weekly of study time.)
- Leisure. (If you don't take some time for yourself to wind down at night, spend time with friends, or just vege out on the couch, you will feel overloaded and weary. Try fitting in at least 2-3 hours a day to just be you. Play video games, shoot some hoops, spend time with family, whatever helps you relax!)
- Exercise! (Keep your body healthy. When you physically feel better, it actually helps your mind feel better! Don't believe me? Check it out for yourself! Here's a quote from Christen Anderson, MS, in an article in WebMD: "When one exercises, you can think more clearly, perform better, and your morale is better. This is pure science -- stimulate your nervous system and function at a higher level" (qtd. by Lawrence, Jean; "Train Your Brain With Exercise;" WebMD; http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/train-your-brain-with-exercise.)
- Positive Thinking: Try telling yourself, "I can do this." Anytime that you feel like you're getting bogged down, or whenever something seems too difficult, just tell yourself that you can do it! You'd be surprised, but there is a lot to be said about positive reinforcement!
- Do the work! When it comes down to it, I can be known as a procrastinator. This makes it hard to keep things done when they have to be done. However, I have learned that I must do things as i planned, and when I planned, for a successful college career. If Iv don't, I end up getting behind, and I, for one, hate to play catch-up! Nothing is worse than learning everything you were supposed to learn in a class the day before the exam! Plus, if you do the assigned homework, chances are that you will struggle much less in any quiz or test that your professor puts in front of you!
- Ask For Help: If you don't get something, don't be afraid to ask! Our instructors have posted office hours for this reason. Never be afraid of feeling stupid; asking questions is how you learn. Delta College also has other tools available for you if you ever want or need the help:
- WRIT Center: Since this is the blog for the WRIT Center, let's start here! We are a peer-consulting service for Writing, Reading, and Information Technology for English classes or any other class that has writing or reading (so, in other words, all across the curriculum!). We will be glad to help you, no matter if you need help coming up with a topic; citing your sources; making sure your paper makes sense; reading a long, difficult textbook; finding or including New Media in your paper, or even if you're struggling with a program like Word or PowerPoint, we will do our best to help you! We are located in the back of the library, by the classrooms attached to the LLIC. We also offer online help at http://www.delta.edu/writingcenter.aspx.
- TLC: The Teaching and Learning Center is the free tutoring center located at the front of the library. They offer tutors for nearly any subject. For more information on the TLC, please visit http://www.delta.edu/llic/tlc.aspx.
There are many other methods you can use to become successful in college, but these, in my opinion, are the most important things you can do. These things can help ease the stress of a bad grade later; in fact, these should help you to get the best grades possible!
Happy fall, welcome back, and good luck!
