Not going to lie, it has been quite difficult for me to learn how to manage all my classes and still have time to balance extracurriculars and time with friends. I know we now have Reading Week to catch up (and luckily, I am going home for the week!), but with working on weekends and trying to spend some of that time with family, I find it can be hard to study for everything. Also, I must admit, I am a little behind on modules and labs so I’m really going to need to focus on getting things done in Reading Week. Anyone else in the same boat? It’s okay, we’ve got this! With some dedication and maybe just a little bit of caffeine (or sugar if you are like me!), we CAN do it. Make a schedule for the next week or two. Just ensure you leave room for breaks, exercise, and “you” time because your mental health is just as important as your grades!
However, I think I’ve improved slightly at managing time since the first couple of weeks. The best tip I’ve learned is to use a planner. Trust me, it might be possible to keep everything in your head but writing out everything you need to do on a calendar helps so much in terms of organizing your time and meeting deadlines. The syllabus is your best friend when it comes to finding these deadlines so if you haven’t done so already, I suggest reading through all of them and writing down due dates to stay on track! If you are looking for a good assignment planner, I highly recommend the planner created by SASS. Now is a great time to try this: as Reading Week ends, plan out the last six weeks of semester and get back on track with your work!
Speaking of organizing your time, midterms are coming up. I don’t know about the rest of you guys but I am STRESSED. I haven’t written an exam in two years so I’m a little nervous in terms of how I am going to prepare myself. I have heard that active recall and practice problems are the way to go. For my physiology and chemistry classes, I am going to try the active recall technique and working through practice problems. If you’re in PSYC100, focus your studies using the “Three-Step Method” note-taking sheet. I’ve been trying to use it for several weeks in class, so we’ll see if it will help me study for midterms better. I have heard from multiple upper years that the method is very helpful when trying to learn key content. Check it out if you are interested! Anyways, hopefully I’ll be able to see which of these study methods works best for me during midterm season and keep using them in my regular study routine.
Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating and I wish all of you good luck with your midterms!
– Noor