5 Ways To Start Your School Year Stress-Free
Welcome to another (or perhaps your first?) start to the school year as a college or university student! Let’s talk about 5 ways to start your school year stress-free to ensure a successful and fun academic year.
Get Organized
It’s the first week of classes and you are now starting to get all your syllabi for the semester- what do you with them? Firstly, actually READ them. As a university instructor (and a student for most of my life) it is baffling to me students don’t actually read the syllabus and figure out the vibe of the class.
Are there group projects or more quizzes and exams? Is there a required attendance policy? Does the instructor offer open office hours for questions or help I might need later in the semester? Do I actually like the topics of the class?
The answers to these questions are in the syllabus! All you need to do is read. If after reading the syllabus and getting a sense of what is expected of you in the course, you are not down with the way the instructor teaches, drop now! Switch into new courses that better align with your schedule or teaching/learning preferences. It’s better to drop in the first week and switch into another class then struggle all semester to squeak out a C-.
Organization is a skill I hear college and university students say all the time is their greatest growth opportunity, i.e. their great weakness. When life gets stressful, having an organization system that works for you can be the difference between failure and success. So take the time at the start of the semester to get yourself, time and life organized.
Build Out Your Schedule
Academic life is pretty consistent, right? Week 1 of the semester looks very similar to week 9 and week 15- meaning your classes more or less meet the same time and day of the week, every week. Build out your schedule on paper or digital spreadsheets (or apps) to help you better visualize when and how you are spending your time and energy.
I learn better in the morning. I’m more mentally active and open to thinking critically earlier in the day vs. the afternoon or evening. So for me, taking a night class is a disaster! Have I done it out of pure necessity? Absolutely. Was it enjoyable? Definitely not.
Know yourself, how you best learn and what time of day you need to allocate certain types of energy. When I was a student, taking classes in the morning opened up my afternoon and evening for leadership and community engagement activities that required a different type of energy and thinking.
Sitting in class till 9pm is torturous for me but working in a student org meeting creating programming opportunities or drafting vision statements? I could do that till midnight! It’s all about identifying your strengths, needs and how you best perform throughout the day and matching your schedule to that.
Value Mental, Emotional, Physical and Spiritual Health
Holistic health is different to all of us. For some, going to the gym every day is a way to release stress, anxiety and get in-tune with our body and check in with ourselves. How are we doing? How do you feel? What is positively influencing me right now? What is not working?
For others, going to the gym every day is the stuff nightmares are made of! Listening to your body and recognizing what you need mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually in your life to bring balance, symmetry and a secure foundation to your existence is so incredibly important when navigating stress and anxiety.
Time is not your enemy, it’s your greatest ally.
If all you have is 7 minutes here and there between classes in a 12 hour day, find a meditation or mindful breathing exercise on Spotify and do it! Positive and healthy self-care practices don’t always mean 90 minutes in the gym or an hour at church every week. It’s whatever it means to you!
If you find value and meaning from your healthy exercises- do more of them as often as feels right to you. If you find practices or ways of doing things are no longer serving you- put them down and move towards ways that actually do serve you.
Talk With Your Professors/Instructors Early and Often
The first time you talk with your professors or class instructors should not be when you have a problem. You should be introducing yourself after class, connecting on LinkedIn and be engaged during class sessions as much as you feel comfortable doing so. Building a relationship with the teaching figures in your life will help you feel more comfortable and confident in seeking help or guidance when you need it most.
If you become challenged in getting assignments in on time or aren’t able to attend class here and there, having a relationship where the instructor knows your situation, helps create a dialogue of compromise where you AND the instructor know what is going on and how you are working to move through your challenges this semester.
If instructors don’t know your situation- how are they expected to know you need help? And HOW you want help? Instructors are teaching for the benefit of your learning. Partner with them, make yourself known and advocate your needs from day one.
If nothing else, you have gained a fantastic person who can now speak to your academic ability and professionalism in the classroom- which is not a bad thing when needing references for grad school or your first job out of college!
Budgeting 101
Listen, money in college is no joke. You never have enough and there is ALWAYS something you need or want. I’m not going to sit here and tell you not to buy that Starbucks latte. Cause when it’s Starbies time, it’s Starbies time… Now, when Starbies time be hittin 3 times a day, 7 days week? Yeah we got a financial problem. Budgeting is a simple formula- what goes out, must come back in. You can’t (well, shouldn’t?) spend when you don’t have, right?
My biggest financial health tips to living your best stress-free college or university life is to budget. Get familiar with yourself, how you spend money, how you FEEL when you spend money and look at your account transactions to understand where your priorities are. Even if you have 47 cents in your account right now and your money went to food, rent and gas to get to school every week? You are managing your budget, albeit limited in amount, as best you can. Well done.
College is about learning, developing and growing into practices that serve will you the rest of your life. Being an adult is hard. Budgeting and making tough decisions is hard. Give yourself grace and opportunity to learn so every day, month and year you are a little further down the road of your self-journey. Managing money is stressful (for most people that is) but learning yourself and what fiscal responsibility means to you will serve you the rest of your life.
Have fun!
We got into some heavy topics in this article. Balancing the demands of college and university life (never mind if you are working a job too!) is an ever evolving science and to be honest, a bit of an art. Know yourself, trust yourself, and surround yourself with good people that love and support you helping you keep grounded, safe and thriving in your journey. Above all else- have fun!
Welcome back to campus scholars- let’s get to learning and growing!
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Meet The Writer!
Hi! My name is Nadia Ibrahim-Taney and I help people design happy and fulfilling careers through authentic career coaching. My expertise includes career exploration guidance, resume writing, interview prep and LinkedIn profile optimization. My pronouns are She/ Her/ Hers and as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I focus on how diverse identities impact and influence folks holistically and professionally. Please connect with me on LinkedIn or at Nadia@beyonddiscoverycoaching.com
