Back to School Tips and Tricks

Wow. I cannot believe I’m about to start my senior year of college. It’s crazy how fast time has gone by these last three years. College had been such an amazing, stressful, fantastic experience that has challenged and shaped me as a person and connected me with so many amazing people and allowed me to grow in ways I never could have imagined.

Before I get too sentimental, let’s hop into today’s topic. There are a few things I do to prep every year before going back to school to help me get organized, motivated, and ready to kick off the semester. Hopefully these tips can help you improve the start of whatever year of schooling you’re in or if you’re in the middle of a work or life transition.

1. Planning: planning is a major step in getting yourself organized. First get yourself a good planner whether digital or physical, just something that you’ll actually use. Second, actually sit down and write in everything you need to do on your schedule. Write down the times of your classes, other appointments, work hours, etc. If you have access to syllabi you can add in all the exam or quiz dates you know about. Also spend some time to check out different fun events like concerts or workout classes or festivals in the area that you may want to do and add them in so you don’t forget.

2. Which leads me to my second point: make a bucket list! I have gone over my love of bucket lists before in other articles but it’s a great way to remember and ensure you’re doing fun things throughout the school year. You can do things with friends, solo dates, random additions, whatever you want. Try to do one bucketlist item a week or a couple big things every month and use your planner set up to hold yourself accountable. (Also don’t worry if you can’t get to everything, this is supposed to be helpful not stressful). Some things on my list this year are: having a Mama Mia party, running a half marathon, going to the farmers market, seeing a live music show, and more.

3. Connect with friends! The summer is great for a lot of reasons but it can be really easy to get out of touch with people if you’re working a lot or in different places/time zones…so go through your contact list and send some check in texts to friends and ask them how their summer was! If you’re extra motivated, ask if they’d be free to call and catch up sometime soon or meet in person for a coffee date, study session, or walk.

4. Make your new space feel like home. Whether living in a dorm room, renting an apartment, or staying at home it’s important to make your space fit your needs. Add some cute decor (and a plant), get some good lights, tidy up yourspace, and most importantly find a study space separate from your bedroom. This is super helpful in giving your brain physical cues to turn off study/school mode and go into relaxation/chill mode. Even if you can’t move rooms if you just make sure you always do homework at a desk and never on your bed that can be really helpful in regulating these habits.

5. Stock up on good food and snacks. Meal prep/plan if you’re doing a lot of home cooking and make sure your pantry is stocked with the basics and emergency quick dinners if you need something fast. No matter your circumstances are tryhave some great snacks on hand. Some of my favorites to fuel study sessions include: cliff bars, dried mango, apples, trail mix, carrots and hummus, etc. Also stock up on some treats for when you have a long/rough day or just for the hell of it like some good chocolate, popcorn, or whatever sweets you enjoy. Make sure you have some good drinks like hot chocolate, a good stash or tea, and coffee to get your day started.

6. Prep all your school/work supplies. Get your bag together with all the books you need, laptop, chargers, journal, sticky notes, pencils, pens, etc. before classes start for an easy transition into school. I always have my reusable water bottle and I like to pack snacks and lunch the night before and keep and emergency granola bar and $10 in my bag just in case.

7. Figure out where all your classes are and how long it’s going to take you to get to each one…UVM is pretty spaced out and there’s only 20 min in between classes so sometimes it’s a near sprint to get from one class to another. Busses are an option but I have terrible luck with public transportation so I tend to walk or bike. It’s really helpfulx for me to check my schedule at least the day before classes start to figure out where I’m going and when I need to get there so I’m not running around crazily 5 minutes before my calc class starts.

8. This normally happens after the first week of classes but …check out what’s going on in the community. Look into club events, career center workshops, job fairs, etc. Club activities are a great way to meet new people, especially those in other fields if your degree classes are very strict. There’s also normally fun community events happening in town like farmers markets, yoga classes, concerts, etc that are a great way to expand past the college bubble and meet really interesting people in the area.

9. Try to get a morning and evening routine together, even if it’s only spending 10 minutes drinking coffee and making a to do list in the morning or doing 10 minutes of skincare or meditation in the evening. Having something set that lets your brain and body know it’s time to get up and going or calm down and ready for sleep can both be really helpful to get into a good cycle of sleep and help you distress. I want to get better about not being on my phone right away in the morning, but I also like staying up to date with the world, so I’ll normally stretch or make coffee or go for a run and then when I’m having breakfast I’ll go through emails and texts and spend around 15 minutes or so checking messages and replying. In the evening I’ll try to journal or read a bit. I find I’m better about getting tasks done sometimes if I multitask on something that takes brainpower with something else that doesn’t, such as doing dishes and listening to an audiobook or podcast. It also works for me to do two more mindless tasks at once like stretching and brushing my teeth.

10. Finally I always feel better when I have a balance of school and fun, so making time to study while also setting aside time to hang out with friends is really important. Normally on the weekends I try to spend one full day without doing school work (it really helps give your brain a break, your mind needs rest days too) where I like to get outside by hiking or running or biking solo or with others and then do stuff in town or with friends in the evening. That’s often on Saturday and then Sunday I try to catch up on things I’ve been putting off. I often motivate myself to do homework by going to a coffee shop or setting up a study date with some friends. I also try to plan at least one thing and a phone call with a long distance pal on Sunday and during the week as well just to make things more enjoyable.

This last year especially has taught me that college is not just about the classes or future career paths, it’s about making connections, bonding, having fun and being a little crazy, learning how to “adult”, growing as a person, and learning all aspects of life—not just schoolwork.

Covid took a lot of those things away last year, soooo many social events, clubs, sports, dances, study abroad, dates…all cancelled.

I’m really hoping this year is more normal and we can all go back to in person classes and events with a greater appreciation and excitement for everything college and life has to offer.