Cue Studying Montage

June 19, 2018

Another day, another page from my Spanish notebook with commonly confused words.

T-minus 10 days until I fly back to the states, which means a few things. 

June 18

Sometimes I have to remind myself that my notes don’t have to be tumblr-perfect both in general and to actually get seen on tumblr. I went back and started re-organizing my notes from my summer Spanish class thematically instead of by day, which I think is a much better reference and forces me to review some things I don’t really use. However, it can be tough not to rip out a page and start over when I see bad handwriting or have to use correction tape. I just have to remind myself that the point isn’t to make my notes pretty.

-Should I take morning classes? That depends. Are you a morning person? And I don’t mean in the “I started class at 7 in high school so it will be fine way.” I mean do you enjoy being awake at 7 am? It is much harder to get up at 6:30 in college than it was in high school. You’ll be up much later than you were in high school, whether you think you will or not. So, my advice is not to take any classes until at least 10 am unless you are an actual morning person with good sleep habits who enjoys being awake early, or unless a specific class is only offered at that time. At the end of the first semester, re-evaluate. How did you handle your earliest class? Could you handle starting earlier if it meant you could finish earlier?

-What about night classes? My recommendation is no. Again, if one class only has one section and it’s at night, you don’t really have a choice. That’s what happened to me my freshman year, as well as a few other people I know. We all hated it. There’s usually a big gap in between your classes when you take a night class and it’s hard to drag yourself back to class when it feels like you should be done for the day. Most club meetings and other activities on campus also happen at night, so you will feel like you’re missing out sometimes. You’ll also probably miss having this time to hang out with friends (which is difficult during the day because of everyone’s weird schedules) or work on group projects (trust me, everyone will want to work on the project during the evening because it’s the easiest time to meet).

-Should I have a break between classes? Again, this depends on you. (Sensing a theme here?) Personally, I’ve tried it both ways and I prefer not to leave breaks. Leaving a one class period break gives you too much time just to eat, but not enough to really relax or get any significant work done. Breaks that are longer give you a nice rest period and let you get some work done between classes, but after 2+ hours, it’s really hard to force yourself back to class. Obviously, being in class 10 am-4 pm without a break is not ideal, (I’ve done it multiple semesters, and it’s rough.) but eating turns out not to be as much of a problem as you would think. Scarfing down a granola bar or piece of fruit during transitions between classes can help keep you full and focused until you have time for a real meal. Plus, most professors are fine with you eating something during classes that happen during mealtime, so long as it’s not loud or smelly (granola bars, grapes, pop-tarts and bagels all work. My friend even used to bring pre-prepared oatmeal to eat during one of our morning classes). Just make sure you ask the professor what their policy is first. Finally, if you have a block class (one that meets once a week for twice the regular time instead of twice a week) most professors will give you a ten-minute break in the middle, which is great for pulling out a quick snack.

-How should I figure out which section of a class to take? Some people choose by professor. You can look at websites like ratemyprofessor to help you find popular ones, or your school may have reviews available through their student portal. Personally though, I just choose the one that I like best in terms of time, and then if there is more than one that works equally well, I might look at different professors. I would much rather have great times than a popular professor, though.

-The class I want to take is full. What do I do? You’re a freshman. It will happen. Just get on that wait list, even if it’s long. A lot of people will drop early in the semester or even before it starts. If you don’t get off the wait list, just take it next semester. Then, take a gen ed or other class that you would have taken next semester this semester.

Hey guys! Now that I’ve finished week 5 out of 6 in my online class for the summer, I thought I would just check in and talk a little bit about online and summer classes. So, if you’re working/ interning over the summer the flexibility in scheduling that online classes offer is really great. (Plus, if you went home for the summer, online may be your only option.) That being said, if you’re a procrastinator, be careful, because it is a lot easier to put things off in an online class, particularly during the summer when schedules are less structured. Weirdly, I am better at keeping ahead of things when I have multiple classes spread out over a long period of time, because it forces me to plan ahead. When you have only one class with a window for handing things in rather than multiple classes with hard dates and times to hand things in, I find it easier to let things slide until the last minute (this picture was taken at around 4 am, and I was on my fourth cup of tea). Finally, be warned that a lot of online classes have discussion boards you’re supposed to be participating in throughout the week. This means you need to be willing to  take part actively in discussions and be working consistently through the week.

I was taking a U.S. politics course, most of which was prior knowledge to me. (I needed it as a pre-requisite for other classes) Because of that, I actually really liked that the course was accelerated so that I got through the material faster and it kept me from getting bored as easily. That being said, if you take any sort of summer class, including online, be prepared to do twice the work per week. You still have to get through an entire semester’s worth of material in six weeks. And again, if you leave things until the last minute, you’ll have twice the work to get through all at once.

Hey guys! So, I know it’s about time for freshmen to start thinking about shopping for their dorm room (not that you really have to start for a while, but some people like to start early) I thought I would make a list of some tips to help make packing easier. I won’t add any things to bring or leave behind, but I will make a separate list of what to pack and what not to later.

DO:

-Communicate with your roommate. Now I’m not saying you should color-coordinate your bedspreads or anything, but you should take some time this summer to talk about who is bringing each of the larger necessities. No room needs two TVs or two mini-fridges, and you’ll want to make sure at least one of you brings a vacuum. Talk about who’s bringing what, splitting the cost of any rentals and what you’re going to share vs. what you’ll each bring separately. Also, be honest. If your roommate says they’ll bring the TV if you bring the fridge, and you like that, great. But if you won’t watch the TV or you think that whatever arrangement they proposed is unfair, tell them so and ask them to pitch in for the fridge or whatever else you think is fair. Don’t let who had to pay for what start building resentment early when you still have nine months to get through.

-Ship things straight to your dorm room or put them on hold at a store closer to your school if you live far away, especially if you’ll be flying. Bed Bath and Beyond will hold items for you closer to school, and anything you order online can be shipped to your school as easily as your parents’ home. The less you have to transport or pay to ship yourself, the better. Just make sure that anything you order will arrive after your school starts accepting packages from incoming freshmen.

-Think carefully about what you will and will not need during the school year. If there’s not a high likelihood you’ll use it, save yourself some space and leave it behind.

-If you live close enough to do this, swap out your clothes for the season during thanksgiving and spring break. This way, you can drop off your summer clothes during Thanksgiving and pick up your heavier stuff for fall and winter. Then in March you can switch back. (note: I didn’t do this, because I only went home for winter break. I needed my sweaters and boots before winter break so I had to bring them with me in August, and I would need my shorts and summer clothes again by the time year ended, so I couldn’t leave them with my parents in December. However, my friends who could go home multiple times a year, particularly who went to school in-state had a lot of luck saving space this way)

-Buy some things after you’ve seen the room. It can be hard to know what size plastic bins to get or how many until you’ve seen the room and started unpacking a little bit. Nothing is worse than knowing you bought something that won’t fit until it’s too late, and saving space in the car on the way to school never hurts.

-Bring a little something to decorate your walls. You don’t have to cover every inch, but staring at plain white walls for nine months can be a little depressing. Decorations brighten up a room and help make you feel more comfortable.

DONT:

-Bring every single item of clothing you own. I promise, you will not wear every pair of shoes you own over the course of the year. This includes shoes. Those heels that you loved to go out in in high school? No one wears them to frat parties and they’re a bit impractical to walk home in from a night out. (You probably won’t have a car, so never wear anything you are not prepared to walk home in.) Anything you didn’t wear in high school, you won’t wear in college, so don’t bother bringing it. Now is the time to clean out your closet, and leave anything with your parents that you won’t use, but don’t want to get rid of.

-Assume your roommate will or will not buy something.

-Pester your roommate to color-coordinate with you. If they want to, that’s cool. I know some people who planned out a color scheme with their roommate and they got along great. However, most people will just want to do their own thing and that’s cool too. You can make your side of the room look great no matter what, and there’s no point in stressing about if your sides will match. (Seriously though, I had a friend whose roommate sent her a color scheme during the summer and was pissed when my friend showed up with a comforter that clashed with hers. It was not the best way to start a nine-month living situation.)

-Assume the school will provide vacuums, brooms, irons, ironing boards, or anything else along those lines. Your school will probably not provide anything you wouldn’t expect your landlord to provide for you. Think of your dorm more as the place you’ll be living from now on and less as a hotel-like environment where you’ll be staying until you go home again. This means you need to provide everything for yourself that you would need over the course of a regular nine months. While you might be able to borrow stuff from friends, neighbors, or your RA, you are responsible for keeping your room and yourself tidy, which includes buying and storing the tools you need to do so.