On Sunday, my friends and I spent a good portion of the day cleaning our house after the Monon weekend's festivities. As we vacuumed and swept the floors, we talked about how little time we have left this semester.
Things got a little sentimental because several of my friends are going abroad spring semester. But when we realized how little time we have left together, we all started to freak out a little.
So, I hate to be the person to bring this up, but including Thanksgiving break, we only have four weeks left until finals.
Before you start freaking out, I have a few words of advice for how to manage the last few weeks of the semester.
First and foremost, don't procrastinate. I have four 12- to 16-page papers, several presentations, and two finals coming up. I'm sure most of you have similar workloads, if not harder. So my number one piece of advice is to get started now.
It's okay that most of us may have put aside our academic responsibilities in light of Monon, but the weekend is over now. It's time to buckle down and get our work done. So get some Starbucks, go to your favorite study spot and crank out papers out and start preparing for the rest of the semester.
But sometimes that is easier said than done. In my time at DePauw, I have found that the best way to go about this is to prioritize my work and create some sort of study schedule. Designate a few hours each day towards preparing for a final and/or writing papers.
Four weeks may seem like a long time, but it will be over before you know it. Besides, if you get your work done early, specifically papers, you can have your professor look at it and give you advice. This generally results in a better grade in the long run.
In addition to the schoolwork we have, it is important to keep balancing your social life as well as your school life. For those of us that have friends going abroad next semester or we ourselves are going abroad, we need to take advantage of every day we have left. Four to six months is a long time to go without seeing someone.
One of my best friends is going to Prague next semester, and I will be really sad to see her go. So make sure you spend time with your friends while they are still here and make plans to keep in contact with them when they are gone, or when you are gone.
Hopefully these tips will get you on track for the rest of the semester. It will be over with before we know it, but on the bright side, winter break is right around the corner, followed by Winter Term. Hang in there.
- Dobias is a junior from Fishers, Ind., majoring in communication and minoring in political science and computer science.