1. Do your best. Really. Put your best foot forward and set your mind to your work. 2. Focus. Yes, it’s difficult to lock your phone and stop checking social media every seven minutes, but what will be more difficult is making up for lower grades next semester. If you work better and focus more in a group studying environment, then go for it. If you work better and focus more on your own, sit on your own. Don’t half-ass studying and drag it out over the day; sit down for a certain amount of time and be committed to full-ass one thing. 3. Ask questions. If you don’t understand something, ask a friend. Ask someone online. Ask a teacher. Yes, it can be intimidating, and yes, sometimes it’s scary to come across as dumb for not understanding a concept, but in the end, not knowing only hurts you. 4. Collaborate. If a classmate is good at physics and you excel in literature, work together. The best way to learn and remember something is to teach; take turns instructing each other. And things are better with a friend, anyways. 5. Take breaks. Don’t push yourself to the point of breaking. When you’re tired, when you need to rest, rest. Have a snack. Watch a TV show. Go for a walk. Call a friend. Just remember that a break is just that- a break. Not the rest of the day off. 6. Get some sleep. It’s important, and in the end, so worth it. If you really can’t afford it, sleep smart. Take power naps. Set alarms. 7. Remember that grades are not everything. These numbers and scores do not define your worth. You are so much more than that C- on your calculus final. You have so much ahead of you. A less-than-ideal grade is not the end of the world. I promise. What is meant to be will be- things will work out in the end.

“We are the girls with anxiety disorders, filled appointment books, five-year plans. We take ourselves very, very seriously. We are the peacemakers, the do-gooders, the givers, the savers. We are on time, overly prepared, well read, and witty, intellectually curious, always moving… We pride ourselves on getting as little sleep as possible and thrive on self-deprivation. We drink coffee, a lot of it. We are on birth control, Prozac, and multivitamins… We are relentless, judgmental with ourselves, and forgiving to others. We never want to be as passive-aggressive as our mothers, never want to marry men as uninspired as our fathers… We are the daughters of the feminists who said, “You can be anything,” and we heard, “You have to be everything.””