A New Semester, a New Plan

To be honest, I was really bummed out most of last semester. First of all, I got broken up with the day before classes started which set a bad tone. But I was also not exactly hyped for online learning. Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT miss commuting to campus every day. But I DO miss being on campus. I didn’t realize how much I loved studying in the library with my friends until I couldn’t do it anymore. And now that all my classes are online it feels like every day is blurring together.

But I’m a little more excited about this semester.

First of all, I’m taking some really cool classes. Most of them are out of my comfort range, which is terrifying and exciting at the same time. But starting next year I’ll be working on my honours thesis so I’ll mostly be studying stuff in my area of interest and comfort anyways. This is a great semester to break out of my shell a little bit.

I also made sure to take classes with friends in them. Of course I won’t actually be seeing my friends, but there’s still some comradery and solidarity in taking the same class. At least we can discuss the material together.

Thirdly, and I think this is the big one, I planned ahead of time. I’ve made a mini schedule for myself.

Now, I know that chances are high that I’ll break from this schedule by mid semester. Things always pop up, or the work takes longer than anticipated. But I know what to expect and each week I’ll know what’s coming.

I’ve also found that actively trying to make each day different helps me remember that time is passing. Last semester it was too easy to fall behind because each day felt the same, so I almost forgot that time was passing by. And before I knew it deadlines were approaching.

The last few weeks, however, I’ve made an active effort to make sundays a catch up day. I clean, I stretch, I meal plan, I watch TV or read and take a rest. I try to do as little work as possible. And that makes such a difference. I know sundays are different and I know how many days there are until sunday. So now I remember time is passing and I should make the most of it.