Ah yes, the notorious week 3. From my experience last quarter, I can honestly say week 3 is the tipping point. How well you’re doing in week 3 will most likely determine how your quarter is, or at least that’s how it was for me. However, winter quarter has been significantly harder than fall quarter.
Last quarter, I was making the difficult transition from high school to college and from home to the dorms but now, I am making the transition from biology geared classes to business economics geared classes. Quickly realizing I didn’t want to be a doctor, go to pharmacy school, do research, or teach biology, I switched my focus to business economics so the classes are on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. I can still take my study skills and time management from fall quarter and apply it to these classes though! Having adjusted to the college time cycle and workload has helped relieve unnecessary stress this quarter and allowed me to dedicate more time to clubs and pursue activities that aren’t necessarily academic related.
For winter quarter, I want to plan my time more efficiently so I don’t have to spend days catching up. So far, I’ve been doing this by using a bullet journal to plan out my entire day the night before! This is literally so useful because I know a rough outline of the tasks I have to do that day. I set aside chunks of time to complete assignments I need to do, time to eat, and time to just nap or chill out in my room. It gives me more order to each day and prevents me from spending time deliberating on what to do. I would highly recommend trying this out for anyone who finds themselves spending half an hour trying to decide whether to do math homework or start their essay (me last quarter).
I’m also planning to be more involved in clubs on campus. In high school, clubs were such a big part of my life but I didn’t feel ready during fall quarter, which is totally normal. Although I am an intern for VSA, I wasn’t as active as I would have liked to be. This quarter I want to change that and have made good progress going to my first staff meeting and boothing. I missed the thrill of selling food to fundraise and represent your organization. Come visit the VSA booth on Fridays on Ring Road for banh mi and boba! I’m also going to join Trace, the traditional Vietnamese dance group, to push my limits a little and challenge myself to try something new. This quarter is going to be filled with firsts because I regret spending more time than I need to on my studies. College is so much more than just academics.
Comparing fall and winter quarter, my sleep schedule has definitely improved as well which I’m excited about. I’m constantly getting around seven hours of sleep compared to my five last quarter and I can feel the difference in my mood. It’s partially because my 11 AM class got moved to 8 AM, but I really don’t mind it now. It forces me to get up early and be productive with my day. (College tip: If you have an 8AM, try not to have a class right after so you can go back to your dorm and nap.)
Winter quarter is a different battle than fall quarter. But this time, I’m well equipped with study skills and have adjusted to college life so I’m ready. Bring it on winter quarter.