First-Year

Today (Thursday the 6th of December) is our first official “reading day,” meaning that we don’t have our normal classes today, but instead we can dedicate the entire day to studying for exams. I still have one last paper to crank out, and most people are wrapping up their last assignments and have begun preparing for exams that start tomorrow.

It’s definitely a stressful time, especially depending on the type of exam you’ll have (a few classes offer take-home papers rather than a traditional in-class test), and I think that this time is an important learning period, not only in terms of reviewing specific material, but in discovering how you work efficiently.

For example, I work best in the morning. I discovered this earlier in the semester when I tried studying alongside friends who are able to write competently at 2:00 in the morning (I am not). So, I got up this morning at 5:30 and made the trek to the Middle Ground where a few lone students were near the end of their all-nighters (and hopefully planning to sleep as soon as they finished).

In high school, there didn’t seem to be as many options for when and how to study, as (in my case) class started at 7:30 am, and extra-curriculars kept me there until at least 4 or 5 in the evening, so your only real option was to study at night. That’s one thing I really appreciate about college: because there are large pockets of time throughout the day depending on your class schedule, you can choose when you’d like to work on which assignments. This schedule grants a lot of freedom (and if you’re not careful, lots of opportunities to procrastinate), so it’s important to plan out a schedule for your day so that you get everything done.

It’s challenging, but being here is so worth it! I’ve found that most of the important work I have done this first semester regards planning, time management, and making choices about your study habits that will allow you to be most efficient. That being said, it’s also really important to be kind to yourself during this stressful time, and allow yourself to do things you enjoy in between studying to avoid feeling burned out. Yesterday, a friend and I went thrift shopping in search of the tackiest possible Christmas sweater we could find, and had great success. So you see, it’s all about balance.

Above, some of the tackiest Christmas sweaters I’ve ever seen at RUF’s yearly Christmas party. (Photo Credit: RUF Rhodes)

Whether your end-of-semester exams have already begun, or are beginning soon, I wish you the best of luck! I’m sure there is still the looming pressure of college applications as well, and I hope that you have a relatively stress-free exam period!