5 Tips for Your Spring Semester
The spring/winter semester, quarter, whatever system your university uses has either started or will be starting very soon. With the new term upon us, I thought now would be a good time to talk about preparing for the last term of the academic year. Now if you're a seasoned college veteran like myself, starting a new semester seems pretty straightforward. You clean up your area, set your notes and files in order, update your calendar and get a head start on your reading, right? Actually, I find that the spring/winter term requires a different type of preparation!
Sure, you should still be doing all of those usual preparation things, but with summer around the corner, now is also the time to start thinking about your summer activities such as internships, jobs or research positions.
I have come up with a list of 5 tips to share with you on how to prepare for the spring/winter term at your school, starting with some basic things and ending with prepping for your summer break. Before we get started, I should also inform you that this list is geared towards those of us that are doing college from home because of the fact that we are, almost a year later, still in a pandemic. With that being said, let's get started!
1. Focus
If you're anything like me, you've probably been having a hard time staying focused. By now we all know that online school is much more challenging on our abilities to have and maintain focus, not only in lecture but also with our schoolwork and the virtual classroom setting in general. I, for one, have had such a hard time focusing that the beginning of this semester has actually been a bit rocky, so here are the things that I've been doing to try and minimize this issue as much as possible
Space
Having a space for your work is important. I understand that everyone's situation is different, but having some kind of designated space for your work can help your brain shift into work mode. A desk, your kitchen table, a designated chair or even a place outside of the house (if it can be done in a safe fashion), whatever you can come up with that is a space for work and work only can make that work easier to do!
Distractions
It is really hard to focus if there are a ton of distractions keeping your attention away from your schoolwork. This includes both physical distractions such as noise, family members, tv shows, etc. AS WELL AS mental or emotional distractions. When it comes to physical distractions, you can utilize strategies like using noise canceling headphones, maybe putting a do not disturb sign on your door if you can, or whatever it is that you need to do to find a quiet space to work in.
Now physical distractions may be easier to deal with than mental or emotional distractions, but that makes dealing with them all the more important. No one is okay right now, but taking
Rituals
Approaching your focus through the utilization of rituals can be a helpful practice in, again, signaling your brain that it is time to sit down and focus. I for one always listen to a specific playlist, I know where NOT to work, the places where I'm NOT productive, I like to make a cup of tea, use a specific pair of headphones, etc. These are the kinds of things you can do to trick your brain into thinking that it's work time!
care of your mental health allows your brain to have the space to breathe and take in the litany of complex information being thrown at you in school. For example, I decided to go back to therapy in order to give myself to have the space to process some of the stressors in my life, making it easier for me to focus on other things throughout the week. All of that is to say that prioritizing mental health, whatever that looks like for you, is really important to all aspects of your life, and especially as a student
2. Creating a System of Planning and Accountability
Whether you're a digital planner or you enjoy a more physical system, finding and utilizing a system both for planning and holding yourself accountable to those plans will be paramount in keeping you on track during the semester.
Personally, I like to use a combination of Google Calendar for keeping track of the times when everything happens, whether or not I have any transfer consultations for Accepted Consulting, any events that I want to go to, etc., alongside Notion for organizing the other aspects of life. I have a whole system on Notion for keeping myself on track when it comes to school assignments and big projects, and if you’re interested in trying out Notion but aren’t sure where to start, check out this free Notion template available through Accepted Consulting to get yourself started!
Now when it comes to accountability… well, for the majority of my education I have relied on the need to get good grades for my source of accountability. However, my department at UC Berkeley isn't a huge fan of hard deadlines or traditional grading systems, so I have had to find new forms of accountability to keep myself on track. A lot of it comes from my own personal want to do well and understand what is going on in school, but I also utilize things like study groups and study sessions with friends to keep me motivated and on track with deadlines. For example, I often attend the Accountability Workshops in order to mimic the group study environment that we would otherwise have.
3. Staying connected with your school and cohort
Just because we're online going to school remotely does not mean that you should spend all of your time alone, especially right now when staying connected can be a huge part of maintaining mental health. I highly encourage you to spend time reaching out to student organizations and form study groups for your classes in order to, again, mimic that study group environment and begin making connections and forming friendships.
Another reason why stay connected is a good idea is because discussion is a really important aspect of synthesizing your understanding of your school materials. Talking to your fellow classmates is just as important to your social life as it is for breaking down course materials and really working through your understanding together. Trust me, from personal experience, it is way harder to get through dense academic texts alone.
4. Prepping for summer activities
If you are interested in finding some kind of job, internship or research opportunity for the summer, you should probably be hurrying up and filling out your applications. I know for me at Cal, most of the applications for programs over the summer have either closed already, or will be closing sometime in the next month or so. If you are planning on pursuing some kind of activity this summer that requires an application, the beginning of your winter/spring term is the best time to get those applications out of the way, before your work load gets too heavy and before the application deadlines close.
I would recommend getting a head start on this by prepping your resume, academic CV or any other materials that you may need. That way it is on hand in the event that an opportunity comes your way.
5. Scheduling Rest
Last, but probably most important, is to remember to schedule rest. Just because we are all working from home does not mean that you have to be working all waking hours of the day. Rest is just as important to your productivity and ability to process complex information as any other aspect of your life. Rest can improve your mental health, give your brain the needed time to process the materials in your class, prevent burnout… The point is, rest does SO much good. I know that in this society it is really difficult to feel okay carving out time and space for you to be restful, but I advise you to at least attempt it. Schedule a morning or an afternoon off. Don't do any school work or work if you can afford to do so. Spend some time vegging out and reading a fun book, watching TV, playing video games or indulging in some hobby you otherwise wouldn’t have time for. I promise that It'll do you some good.
There are a lot of things one can do to tackle their semester effectively and successfully. I hope that these tips can be added to your arsenal of tools that you can utilize to leave you feeling your best and prepared for the summer ahead!