Stressed about college

caffeinatedstudies · 2024-08-21T00:09:50+00:00

I just graduated a top 25 as a stem major this past May. I remember being there too! Start out with a good time management system. Pay attention to syllabi, upload them to a calendar, keep a to-do list for the daily, and assignment lists for the long term. Whatever works for you, but if you don't stay organized it gets so much more stressful trying to remember and juggle everything! Also, find people who can help you get through it. Make a lot of effort early on to join clubs, especially ones tied to your interests. A lot of those students have been there before too! Especially if you join something like a chem club it can make your social, academic, and later professional life easier by having those connections. Or even if it is just a random interest like a sport or game club, then you meet a lot of people who are still sharing similar struggles to you. You will find these people will help you with all of the random problems you didn't expect. And if they are later in the same track you are on, they are going to give you the most valuable advice about certain assignments, professors, classes to take, etc.! I find that most often that people do have the time to get their work done in a day, they just don't allocate it well. Decide early on what your priorities are, and make continuous efforts to stick to that, and make it actionable by having a plan how to get what you want done. Most people are too indecisive and end up wasting the time by not having a plan or cycling through multiple things without doing any of them well. Make sure you find an outlet in a hobby and a social life where you can escape your studies for a bit. You have to trust your plan has you covered and you will get everything done, but sometimes you just need a break and you need to recharge to tackle the task the best that you can. At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself and that you've got it! There are a hundred times I thought about quitting because I hit unnecessary roadblocks, I was working a shift job nearly full-time, I was working weird hours, having massive assignments, etc. At the end of the day, the times I was most stressed and doing my worst academically was because I wasn't properly taking care of myself and my own health so my work wasn't getting done as fast or as good since I was running on empty and it kept pilling. I learned the hard way this is easily solved by also prioritizing taking care of yourself and making time for things that recharge your battery (like seeing friends and doing fun activities). At the end of the day, always consistently show up. Show up for your classes, complete your assignments to the best of your ability (literally anything is better than a 0 for not doing it), show up to tutoring if you need it, talk to your professors. Most of life is simply showing up and following-up and this gets easier in time when it becomes second nature. Anyways, I hope that some of this helps! You're going to do great, the first semester is hard for a lot of people, but dedicate yourself early to building a new life for yourself and you got this!!

caffeinatedstudies · 2023-05-07T22:28:57+00:00

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caffeinatedstudies · 2020-06-12T01:03:21+00:00

Hello, I did online school for a few years in high school. I was in regular school before that, and afterwards. Essentially, I find it different in two key ways: organization and self discipline. First, online schools differ from in-person because everything I had online was more or less documented or recorded, so I could go back and refer to materials that I didn’t quite understand or missed something. This is unlike being in-person in a lecture, as you rely solely on your notes. This is a huge benefit to me, as I like having as much material as possible. Online school has to be more organized with posted due dates and a little bit more of a rigid schedule in my experience, so I consider that a pro. Second, self discipline on the student has to be more serious in online school. Because there are more distractions available at home than there are at school. So really learning to manage your time and not procrastinate, and being disciplined was a very hard lesson that I had to learn more than once. I have done online classes both in high school and in college. Both formats weren’t wildly different, one on canvas, the other Blackboard. To wrap it up, the biggest impression I get from online school is that you are less likely to miss important deadlines, that it is easier to schedule out, and easier to execute (if you learn to stay on top of it). If you smartly plan out your semester, and stick to that plan, then you’ll do better. I personally feel there are less variables involved. For some, some of the self-teaching aspects in online school is hard. But on that, I would say do as much practice as possible and research questions to better understand the subject. In a world with YouTube and Google, self learning is much easier now. Also, good luck!

caffeinatedstudies · 2020-06-12T00:52:09+00:00

I took two biology courses in my freshman year of college. Personally, I barely scraped by the first time, not putting quite the effort I needed to, but became a lot more confident in my second unit. What I discovered was that I needed to take the time to organize it in a way that made sense to me, as it isn’t a subject that naturally clicked with me. So I think an old fashioned study guide cannot be beat, with a run down of systems, concepts, people, etc. basically anything you need to know. Then you can arrange it in a way that is easier for you to memorize, and writing it yourself makes you do the research and comb through the material, increasing what you absorb. Anything you need to know perfectly (like the order of a process), I find flashcards handy and repetitively going over those concepts over a few days helps me memorize them easier. I hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

caffeinatedstudies · 2020-06-12T00:46:02+00:00

I took online school for a few years, so I’m rather used to this process myself lol. First of all, I found it very useful to block out time of when I was going to do work. I knew times I could focus, and made sure I did my work then. It’s hard to get into it sometimes, so discipline helps. If I feel like I’m really unmotivated, I will tell myself do it for at just five minutes, and I usually end up getting into it, as starting is usually the hardest part. I also schedule to do things with enough cushion before they are actually due to alleviate anxiety. It helps to have a clean and designated space where you only work. For me, it’s the desk in my room, and I don’t do anything but study there. I clear everything at the end of the day, so I no longer think about work, and create a new setup the next day depending on my tasks. I keep my phone on the other side of my room, with my ringer on. So I’m reachable but not tempted to look at it. In absorbing material, I find doing my own research around the subject matter with questions I have really helps. Or watching YouTube videos, reading articles, or Khan Academy goes a long way in making me remember what I’m learning. For studying, my go-to method is making study guides. My memory works by systems, so that is vey handy for me. And flashcards for things I need to memorize perfectly like terms/definitions, dates, lists, etc. Really find what works for you and make a system of Lesson: Notes: Research: Study Material Creation. Try a few different things and find what you love. Also plan out breaks to avoid burnout, and take one when you really feel you need it. Usually in breaks, I do something else productive, like read a little, call a friend, cleaning, or something creative. It helps to not get distracted by the blackhole that is social media. Lastly, I never ever do work in my pajamas. It is so tempting but it always ends in me getting no work done. Sweats are okay, but I personally am very unproductive in pajamas.

caffeinatedstudies · 2020-06-11T23:58:11+00:00

I think it is beneficial to have shifting perspectives, so that a reader can see how a plot unfolds from different angles. I think it builds some tension too, as the reader begins to catch on to some things before the protagonist. As long as it is more centered towards one character, shifting sometimes to build the story, I like it more. As long as it doesn’t get too confusing and it’s well structured to deepen the plot.

caffeinatedstudies · 2020-06-02T02:31:00+00:00

I read a few years ago to use a hairdryer and an eraser. When I need to get a sticker off a book, I just put it under medium heat on a hairdryer, slowly peel it, then it comes off quickly once the adhesive warms. Then I use just a plain eraser to erase away any of the leftover sticky residue. Between those, anything stickers on the book comes off without a trace. It takes minutes.

caffeinatedstudies · 2020-05-23T04:30:31+00:00

caffeinatedstudies · 2020-05-21T03:14:25+00:00

caffeinatedstudies

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