Making the Perfect Schedule

In honor of the younger kids making their schedules for next year this week, this post will cover tips on how to relax your nerves before decision time and how to get your perfect schedule.  This can be a very stressful process for many students.  I personally had never had scheduling troubles until just this past semester when I was making my final class schedule.  My advisor never cleared me to register, which caused me to not get the only class I needed to graduate with my minor.  After a week of talking to four different administrators, I finally had a schedule that worked. 

The first step of creating your perfect schedule is to know the exact time you register and all of your possible class options.  It is a good idea to look over the course catalog before making your final decisions, there may be classes that you don’t even know exist and that peak your interest.  This may also supply you with more class options than you need.  Prior to your register time, it is a good safety net to create a second schedule with classes that you wouldn’t mind taking in the event that all or some of the classes you desire are already taken by the time you register.  However, just because you write down multiple options, make sure you don’t register for all of them.  Over-scheduling your semester can cost you more in tuition and can add an unnecessary amount of work and pressure.  Also, be sure that when you actually register for classes that none of them overlap.

After creating a draft of your schedule(s), you should make an appointment to meet with your advisor.  They can make sure you are on the right track and approve that you are actually eligible for the classes you desire to take.  Your advisor can also give you the full list of required classes and tell you the guidelines of your major.  It is a good idea to get your required classes over with early.  The earlier the better! Then you are free to take more classes that interest you as you get closer to graduating.  With this being said, maintain a balance.  Take a mix of easy and hard classes.  Don’t just jump into hard classes as a freshman, you are still adjusting.  It is also a good idea to not schedule early-morning classes if you don’t function well in the early hours of the day.  You will go to more classes if you make a schedule that works well with your day to day schedule.

Up All Night

Welcome to college.  You now don’t have every class every day, and you have free reign of when you do your work, as long as you get it done before it is due!  All of this free time and freedom seems great at first, until you realize how poorly you have planned your time and now your assignment is due in less than 12 hours!  After procrastinating, it’s time to pull an all-nighter!

When you decide an all-nighter is absolutely necessary, it is best to have a plan and come prepared.  This includes knowing what you need to study and how you are going to do it, such as make notecards, rewrite your notes, or just read the book.  Before you even leave your house, make sure you have everything you will need for the night.  It is a good idea to bring your books for that class, notecards, pencils, laptop and charger, drinks, snacks, and any other studying items you deem important.  What you snack on throughout the night can either help or hurt you.  Be sure to choose your snacks wisely and keep yourself hydrated.  Don’t choose snack that are full of sugar.  Sugar causes a short burst of energy, but ultimately results in a decrease in your body’s blood sugar level making you feel even more lethargic than before.  This crash of energy is hard to overcome.  Foods high in protein are best to eat during all-nighters because they will give you the long lasting energy you need, with no post-consuming crash.

Choosing a good location is the one of the most important steps.  In order to stay up all night, pick a place that has good lighting to help keep you awake.  Our bodies take darkness as a sign that it is time for bed, so if you keep it bright then you have a better chance of tricking your body out of becoming too tired.  Also, pick a location where you will not need to move later in the night.  Some buildings have a closing time, where you will be interrupted and asked to leave.  This will completely throw off your mind set and make it hard to get back in the zone.

One part of an all-nighter that is often overlooked is to set an alarm prior to when you need to in your class.  Most people do not think this is necessary because they plan to stay up all night, but what happens when they accidentally fall asleep and miss the test or due date of the paper that they just spent all night working on?  Then all their hard work was for practically nothing.  So remember, before you start studying to set an alarm (or multiple) for the morning, just in case you do happen to fall asleep!

If you are lucky enough to finish your work earlier than you expected, then you can celebrate with a quick sleep before class.  As long as you have more than 30 minutes before you have to be in class… go to bed!  But make sure you have set multiple alarms; it will be harder than normal to force yourself to get out of bed.

Laundry Etiquette

After a week away from my house on campus, my housemates and I all returned with loads of laundry.  The problem?  Only one washer and dryer to share between seven girls.  However, I do prefer this set up over the large laundry rooms in the dorm-like housing options on campus, which I had to deal with for my first two years of college.  In the large, shared laundry rooms it is important do have good laundry etiquette.

The number one problem with sharing laundry units is that other people get impatient.  You should time your washes and promptly remove your clothes from the machines.  If your clothes are in the dryer and you know that you will not make it back on time, you can leave your laundry basket on top of the machine you are using so the next user can easily toss your clothes in it.  If you are really lucky, sometimes the next person will even fold your clothes for you!

If all of the machines are full when you get there, it is acceptable to move someone else’s clothes from the washer to a dryer.  Some people get very upset by this, but chances are they will never know it was you who did it anyways!  If later when you return to dry your clothes all of the dryers are full, you can again take out someone else’s clothes as long as their cycle is done and the clothes feel fully dry.  If you do choose to do this though, make sure you place them nicely where the owner will find them.   The golden rule in life even applies to laundry etiquette- treat other peoples’ clothes as you would like others to treat yours.  

Spring Break!

In honor of Spring Break being in just a few short days, I wanted to talk about some Spring Break safety tips.  I wish I could spend my last Spring Break on a sunny beach somewhere, but instead I will be spending my week in snowy New Hampshire doing job interviews.  However, if you are like most college students, you have been planning a trip with your closest friends to go away to someplace warm and tropical, maybe even out of the country!  I have come up with a few guidelines that may come in handy while you are out celebrating your short escape from school.

If you are driving to your destination, make sure you buckle up!  You never know when an accident might occur and wearing a seatbelt could save your life.  Just last year on my drive down to Florida for Spring Break, a group of my friends and I were in a tiny fender-bender.   Luckily no one was hurt and there was no damage to either of the cars, but we were all definitely in shock afterwards.  Also, be sure to alternate drivers.  If you are driving for more than five hours, it is a good idea to switch off.  This will allow for the new driver to be less tired and have a fresh view of the road.  Most importantly, do not drink and drive.  It will make the roads safer for you and those drivers around you.

Once you get to your location, find where you are staying and any necessities around you, such as the ATM or a 24 hour convenience store.  It is best to visit the ATM in a group, during daylight hours, and cover your hand as you punch in your pin numbers. 

It is also very important to stay hydrated.  Most people are not used to the warm weather and the constant sun, or even the massive amount of drinking that usually occurs.  Be sure to pace yourself while you drink and always keep an eye on your drink to make sure the strangers around you don’t add anything to your beverage.

For those out there who have fair skin like I do, remember that it is very important to wear sunscreen and reapply it throughout the day.  Be sure to pay extra special attention to your ears, nose, face and shoulders.  It may even be a good idea to avoid sun exposure during the hottest hours of the sun’s rays.  If you are out in the sun all day, it is extra beneficial (and stylish!) to wear sunglasses and a sun hat.  Remember: you can burn even when it is cloudy out!

My favorite Spring Break advice; however, is if you go out with your friends, make sure you go home with your friends.  This ensures that everyone you are with makes it home safely each night, which is a top priority.  I hope these tips help keep everyone safe, while still having an exciting Spring Break that is worth talking about for years to come!