5 Simple things you can do to have a great college semester

People approach new semesters differently. While some approach it with excitement, some approach it with a lot of dread.

I shall be the first to say that neither approach is wrong. Your feelings are valid.

However, when you want a change, here is how to get it.

If you’ve been wanting a new experience, or a great time at school, this is the post for you.

Attitude

Attitude is everything.

For the record, let’s define the word attitude, so we can all be on the same page. According to the Google dictionary, attitude is a settled way of thinking or feeling about something. What is your attitude towards school? Does it need some work?

In my opinion, I don’t think it’s possible to have a great time with something you hate. It’s for that reason that this is the first thing you need to work on.

The opportunity to go to college is still a privilege. Having the funds to attend college and the grades to go to college is a privilege. You are lucky and blessed to be able to go to college so be grateful or surrender the opportunity to someone else.

If you feel like you will be happier doing something else, then go do that. Just don’t take your opportunity for granted. It’s an affront to all the people who want to go to college but can’t.

The best way to change your attitude towards school is to find a reason to like it again. It can be anything, it can be taking up some responsibility, joining a club, or making some friends.

Find a reason to smile when you think about school resuming. If you can do that, then you are well on your way!

Finances

Who likes thinking about finances? No one I know. No one you know either, I wager.

With that being said, I would tell you that if you can have your college finances sorted out before school starts, then you are guaranteed a great semester.

Financial disruptions mid-semester are sure to ruin your motivation and academic focus. This is why any financial issues should be taken care of at the start of the semester.

These involve issues like tuition fees, library fees, insurance, activity fees, computer lab fees, and anything else that will have the school finance office calling you mid-semester.

You should also put your student finances in order. Make sure you have a budget that you stick to. Make sure that all your necessities are taken care of. That means money for rent, groceries, transportation, utilities, and emergencies.

Mental health

The third thing you should do to make sure you have a great semester is to make sure that you are taking care of your mental health.

We all know how stressful school is. You need to anticipate this stress and handle it accordingly.

If you know you experience burnout towards the end of the semester, then cut back on going out so much, stay in more and finish with your mental health in check.

If you are feeling depressed, then see your school counselors. That is why they are there. They exist to support you. They exist to make sure that you are mentally okay, so lean on them as needed. It isn’t your job to try and handle everything by yourself.

Here is a post on how to recover from college burnout.

Physical Outlet [Exercise]

Another great thing you can do to have a great semester is to have a physical outlet.

This ties in perfectly with the third point. Being a college student is stressful, so make sure you have a healthy way to blow off steam. You can join a school team, take dance classes, jog in the morning or evening, or do anything else that will allow you to decompress safely and healthily.

We all know that exercise helps us produce endorphins, which make us feel good.

With the pressures of school, you need these feel-good hormones as much as possible, so make sure you are getting some exercise. This will help keep you healthy, both body, and mind.

Sleep more

This might seem simple, right? But we all know that it isn’t.

Sometimes as a college student, going to bed and simply falling asleep can seem like the hardest thing to do. For type-A students, there will always be a looming deadline, an extra credit assignment, or an internship keeping us up at night.

For everyone else, it’s that party here or that party there, someone’s birthday, a road trip, and many other things that I can’t think of right now. The point is there will always be something.

Given we have established that sleeping sometimes isn’t as easy as we would like, we need to make sure that sleep is something that we schedule, and so we have to prepare for this. This is where nighttime routines come in.

Take your sleep seriously. Sleep helps your mind and body rest and make sure you are sharp and alert the following day. Take advantage of this free resource.

To sum this up, great semesters don’t happen on their own. They aren’t unachievable either. They are very achievable if only you put in a little bit of effort.

To recap, there are 5 simple things you can do to have a great semester.

The first is to change your attitude towards school. The opportunity to go to college is still a privilege, you are lucky and blessed to be able to go to college, so be grateful or surrender the opportunity to someone else.

The second thing is to make sure that your finances are in order. This prevents interruptions from the school finance office in the middle of your semester.

The third thing is to have mental health checks as needed and, to seek help when you need it. The fourth is to make sure you have a physical outlet. College is very stressful and, one way to ease that stress a little is to have a physical outlet.

Finally, the last but not the least thing you can do to make sure you have a successful semester is to sleep more. As humans, we need to sleep to give our brains and bodies time to recharge.

The sharper you want to be, the more you need to protect your sleep schedule.

You deserve to enjoy undergrad, and you deserve to enjoy your grad school. They go by so fast, don’t just surrender to having meh semesters.

It’s okay to want more. It’s okay to want to have great semesters. Furthermore, it’s okay to look forward to school resuming, and now you know how to make sure that once it does, you can have a great semester!