A guide from your local experienced junior
Many of the incoming students reading this paper are going to see this title and think, “Well, I don’t need that! I got straight A’s in high school,” or perhaps, “I took an online Comp. I course at my local community college last year, so I’ll be totally fine.” While for a set few of you this could be true, the very fact that you are thinking these things may mean that you actually need this article the most.
The number one piece of advice that every professor and peer mentor is going to give you is to show up to your classes. Though this may seem redundant at first, someday you may have an 8 a.m. that does not require attendance and all that advice is going to suddenly make sense. Remember, though, you are paying to take that class, and if the professor does not post lectures online then you are gaining little to nothing from it if you do not show up. On top of that, it is very difficult to a class if you do not even know what has been taught.
Now that you have gone to class and read through all of your syllabuses, it is time to start planning ahead. When I say this, I mean for the entire semester, not just for the next few days or even the next couple of weeks. The main difference you will find between college and high school classes is that high school gives you time in class to do all of your homework, readings and essays. If you were efficient enough, you may have gone days at a time without having any homework at all. Now that this is not the case, you need to go and look at every homework assignment you are going to have for every class. My personal recommendation is to then list every reading, essay, test and whatever else is listed on the syllabus in a Google Sheet with all of your classes along with all of their due dates. This allows for you to see what is coming up and what you need to focus on the most without having to flip through five different ten-page pdfs every week.
The planning is not done with that one Google Sheet. I have found it important to plan for both the long term and the short term. With all your assignments laid out in front of you, you should go through it every week or two and figure out which items you are going to do on which day. It does not matter if you do this online or with a physical planner. What does matter is that, whenever you do this, you make sure you are working ahead. Do not just do the assignments that are due that week, but work as far ahead as you are able without stressing yourself out or causing you to forget everything said in the reading by the time of the class. It may seem like a lot, but you will thank yourself for working ahead when you get sick or decide to go out of town for the weekend.
Now you know your assignments for the week, but where should you work on them? One thing that it took me far too long to realize was how important it is to have a place where you can just work. It does not matter where, just as long as it is not your bed because the chances of getting distracted or too sleepy to work skyrocket. If you like background noise, go to the Union or Starbucks. If you need silence, go to the library. If you prefer the outdoors, there are benches and tables everywhere on this campus. You can even go off campus to a park or coffee shop. Just find a study spot that is not your bed, and, as hard as this may be, do not connect your headphones to your phone. It is a lot less fun to doomscroll when you cannot have sound on, so take away the option. Treat your phone as a reward for having finished all of your work.
Most people know that it is good to take notes during class. If you did not, now you do. It does not matter how you do it as long as it is being done. just do whatever you are fastest at so that you do not miss a slide. The part that a lot of people do not do is take notes outside of class. I can promise that you will be a whole lot more engaged in the class if you have things to talk about and fully understand what you just read. I especially encourage people who tend to zone out while reading to take notes — I am one of those people, and it caused me to have no idea what people were talking about sometimes. If you are actively trying to find things to write down, it will be a lot harder to zone out.
It is the week of your first exam. You know this because it’s highlighted in red on your handy Google Sheet. You have your notes from all of your classes and readings at the ready, and now it is time to study. I was one of the kids in high school who rarely felt the need to do this, and I know many other students here were the same. However, I cannot express to you how important it is that you study in college. The tests are harder, they cover way more content and if you fail that class because of a test worth half your grade, there may be real financial consequences. I was told my freshman year that I should study for twice the amount of hours that the class is. I have never liked this advice. My advice is just to study until you genuinely know the material. If you can go a day and a night having not looked at the material and still get it 100% correct multiple times in a row, then you have properly studied. My biggest recommendation is to use an online flashcard site that you can be quizzed on. Omnisets is my personal favorite — picture a free, mildly worse Quizlet.
The last piece of advice that I am going to leave you with is to not be afraid to ask for help. It is not embarrassing to go to the writing center. You are not bothering your teacher by showing up during office hours. Your peer mentors and advisors genuinely want you to succeed here. If you need help, then ask for help. Enjoy your first year here at TU, and good luck in your classes!
