Hello, my dear readers! I am finally back on campus and just wrapped up my first week of classes; I am delighted to report that I am doing well. I think this semester is going to be much better than the last, knock on wood. Here are the reasons why.
Firstly, my schedule is so much more manageable this semester. Instead of taking 18 credits across seven (7!?) classes, I am taking five classes for a total of 16 credits. I was going to take another 18 credits this semester, but my 5-credit Portuguese class got cancelled, so I pivoted and ended up with 2 fewer credits. However, I think the problem was with the volume of classes I was taking rather than the number of credits they totaled. It was simply overwhelming, especially as it was my first semester. It felt like there was always an assignment I had forgotten about and was scrambling to complete on time. My goal is to relax more this semester, and reducing my course load will definitely help me do so.
In addition to having less work, I intend to treat the work I do have like a 9-5 job. Right now, my full-time job is “student.” I have an actual job, too, but school is my primary occupation. However, I am going to set serious boundaries around the times I do work. Every day, I will clock into school, and at the end of my “work day,” I will very firmly clock back out. I want to avoid doing schoolwork past 5 pm because I need to be able to unwind and turn off my brain before I go to bed. Last semester, academics bled into every aspect of my life, and it badly stressed me out. My goal this semester is to allot myself homework time every day and simply do what I can within that time. One of my professors advised the same thing: to treat school like a job and clock out after doing a solid amount of work. Work hard, but don’t grind yourself into dust. At orientation, too, I was told to expect to do 2-3 hours of coursework outside of class for every hour I spend in class; if I spend that time wisely, what teacher can fault me?
Here’s the kicker, though: I actually have to spend that time wisely, which means limiting distractions, aka, my phone. I don’t know if it was winter break, but recently I have been on my phone to a detrimental degree. In order to get my homework done and waste less time, I have to stay off my phone. For me, this is as easy as leaving it in my dorm room if I go down to the Mayflower lounge to work, or keeping it in my backpack if I’m studying at the library. If it’s out of my sight, it’s out of my mind. I hope this small change helps me be more efficient and save valuable time for doing other things, like my hobbies. I’ll hopefully write, exercise, paint, and crochet a lot more than last semester!
Between my smaller course load and my stricter timetable to do work, I have high hopes for this semester. As always, I’ll keep you updated; my approach to school this semester is a lot more relaxed, and I will share if it works any better with you all! This was a short one, but I appreciate you guys reading it nonetheless 😊
Stay warm (it feels like –35° in Iowa City currently!), and have a great start to your semesters!
I’ll catch you in the next one,
Kiah<3
