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A guide for finishing the semester off strong (without relying on deities)
First off, congratulations, we are now nearing the end of week seven which translates to: bring out the Bon Jovi because this semester is halfway over. For some of us this means we can rest easy since, hey, we’ve made it this far with passing grades and minimum effort, so the rest of the semester will be “elementary, my dear Watson”. And for the rest of us this means “get your game face on” because these upcoming weeks could end in a fumble or a touchdown. Sherlock and Football references aside, I want to focus on the latter category because we’ve all been there at least once (more than once in my case) and I have found a few tips and tricks that may help some people out. Without further ado, here is my guide to finishing a semester off strong.
I’m a Junior now and, naturally, that comes with a bit of experience in the whole “you’ve only got eight weeks to live left in your current semester” scenario and, in my opinion, I’ve fared pretty well. What’s my secret? Well I’ve got a few but first and foremost, relax. This goes out to the Freshmen especially when I say, take a deep breath and keep calm. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by midterms, then final projects, then final exams and/or papers and really, when I put it that way, it’s reasonable to get overwhelmed too. I mean, having a final exam, project, and paper due is overkill and unfortunately, a reality for some of us. But I want to let you know that you can and will finish your coursework when the time comes so no need to freak out. However, I give you full permission to groan and sulk about it. That is warranted. But no panicking! I learned the hard way my Freshman year that when you’re stressed about school work, that also means you won’t get any school work done so it’s a lose/lose situation. UIC students are winner’s, so no losing allowed.
My next tip is hard to accomplish, I’ll admit, but it is essential. Don’t procrastinate. Now, I want to say I’m a huge hypocrite for making this a tip and not following it myself, but that’s exactly why it needs to be said. Take it from a chronic procrastinator, waiting till the last minute is your mortal enemy. It may seem nice at first and so easy to do, but don’t be fooled, procrastination is the reason I’ve gotten lackluster grades in previous semesters and if I continue on this path of procrastinating, well, I don’t even want to imagine where I’ll be. In short, give yourself enough time to do all your assignments comfortably.
This leads me to my next and final trick in this guide. If you have something due that seemingly will take forever to complete, don’t labor over it for hours at a time in one sitting, break it down. For example, I have a research paper due by the end of this semester that must be a minimum of twenty pages long. Once completed, it will be the longest paper I’ve ever written. Just thinking about it now makes me cringe but, stealing a page from my own book, I’m not going to panic and instead I’ll make this monstrous assignment into a much more manageable task. Once a week I will do something related to my research paper, whether that be collecting data, researching previous data, or translating it on paper and by breaking it down I have made the impossible possible. All you need is a due date and you can easily break an assignment down to smaller pieces, like snacking on a pizza for an extended amount of time.
I hope you find this guide helpful and if you’re already doing everything I’ve written about, great, you’re already doing better than me (procrastination is a tricky one). I wish you all the luck finishing this semester off strong!
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