#startingstrong

Starting the Semester Off Strong

Hi, Y'all! If the semester already started for you, I hope it’s off to a good start, and if it hasn’t yet I hope it’ll be the best one yet. In this post, I want to talk about the ways I’m attempting to start the semester off on the right foot, and I hope they’ll help inspire you as well.

-Write all deadlines from the syllabus in your agenda. The first thing I do when I get the syllabus from the class is write down every date so I can’t forget anything. This goes all the way from what readings are due when to the day of the final exam. I write this in pencil on the monthly spreads in my agenda, so if anything changes I can do so easily throughout the semester before transferring this in pen to my weekly or daily spreads.

-Look for cheaper books/materials. Textbooks are EXPENSIVE so before each semester begins I look online for cheaper rentals or ebooks instead of buying from my school's bookstore. Last semester, I rented several books off Amazon and sent them back over winter break to save some money.

-Label and organize supplies. For me, I do everything on paper, so I like to color code my school supplies by subject and label them before the semester begins. This just helps me to remember what I need when packing my bag and keeps things organized to find papers or notes later on.

-Get ahead on reading if you can. This semester, I have a few classes that require a lot of reading, so I divided the first assignments up so that starting yesterday, I could read and outline a little each night instead of cramming and getting overwhelmed later on. This is a habit I like to keep up, and starting early relieves stress once the semester picks up more.

-Organize and clean your space. Personally, a messy room overwhelms me and makes it difficult to do anything, so I spent my first day on campus making sure everything was unpacked, decluttered, and tidy before things get busy.