As summer is around the corner, many of you acquaintances have probably made their summer plans and vacations while you are stuck with books in your little room. This idea has already discouraged many students from studying and they rather plan gatherings with friends to make up the fun. You can still have fun during summer school but an imbalance between social and school life can easily result in a poor performance in your grade. This is a blog that gives some tips on how to survive summer school while having a social life.
- Get your course schedule, plan ahead.
This may be straightforward and intuitive but many students (sometimes including me) do not plan well their schedule leading to procrastination. Given the packed contents taught in summer school, it is very easily to fall behind. Thus, plan out an ACHIEVEABLE schedule is a key to success. It should take into account of all possible events, such as gathering, illnesses and job shifts if you are working. For example, if you have two 3-hour classes per week while working full-time, you should dedicate at least 18 hours per week to fully digest the material. This means you should study 3-4 hours daily which maybe hard to do with a full time job. Thus, a schedule would help you decide how you should allocate the 18 hours. It may be to weekends or weekdays where you do not have classes. You should give some flexibility to the schedule in case emergency events happen so you can catch up on your studying.
- FOLLOW your schedule.
As mentioned, summer school is very packed, thus you have to stick to your schedule or soon you will find yourself procrastinating. In any situation, especially summer school, procrastination must be avoided. Below is a great TED talk showing how to stop procrastinating. Remember, it seem pain for you to abandon fun you could have, but the end result will pay off.
- DON’T Skip classes.
With the classes clustered together, it can be very boring and tempts you to skip the long dragging classes. Once you skipped one class, you will find yourself skipping more and the content you missed will be similar to a snowball that accumulates overtime. Reading the textbook is helpful but there are always key points professors mention in class that are not covered/emphasized in the textbook. So, force yourself to go to class, even if you are very tired.
- Balance your time, still have fun!
Last but not least, HAVE FUN! School doesn’t mean everything. With all the schoolwork completed, you can still have entertainment. Don’t just stay in one room with books. You still can go out and have meet ups with your friends and families. Remember, school is priority but doesn’t define everything.
hemtecks 