2020 has been quite the year, and it’s not even over yet. First the Covid-19 Pandemic, then the fight against racial injustices and inequality, and now... just add online classes to your list.
All of my classes are online this term, which is a change from my previous all in-person courses the past three years. If you’re coming into Coe as a freshman, you should know that we seniors feel for you. Freshman year is your time to have fun and figure out how college works. Now that this game we call “student life” has changed, it’s almost as if everyone is starting over. We’re all freshmen, in our hearts.
Jokes aside, there’s no need to worry. Despite these changes to our class schedules, locations, and methods, college is still college, because school is school. Many of the techniques we’ve discussed on our student blog (here in the Learning Commons) still apply, and many are more important now than ever before!
Last spring, I got some experience with online classes when I went back home. Although I’m back on campus, with a hectic schedule, my new habits still serve me well. Here are five ways to ease into online classes and survive your first term in this new normal!
1. Set Up a Study Space in Your Dorm (or home, or wherever you have access too)
Our usual study spots are no longer viable, which sucks, but we’ll just have to make due with what we’ve got! Make sure to keep your academic materials in one place. In the dorms, desks and shelves are provided for you. In the apartments, you’re on your own. Now’s a good time to consider creating some storage space. You could go out and buy shelves, bins, or just use cardboard boxes from when you moved in.
In my case, sticking to a budget is very important. I’m using a few tiny grey bins to hold my school and craft supplies, and a white draw-cart-thingy to hold my books and folders. I purchased a foldable desk that I use for all of my work, and can move it to any room I want. I move my desk lamp (that I hadn’t used since freshman year) to any surface it can sit on.
All I need to make this study situation foolproof is a proper light and a proper chair.
2. Schedule break times
It’s important to give yourself breaks since you won’t be leaving your dorm too often. I understand wanting to work on a class for a few hours straight, just to get it out of the way. I do it all the time. However, I always feel refreshed and ready to get work done when I take a nice break.
Take a quick walk around campus, and breathe in the fresh air. Wave to your friends from at least six feet away (social distancing is important). You can sit by a window and read for fun, or even read a book for another class. Watch TV or play on your phone, just do something to take your mind off that assignment for a few minutes. Then, you can look at your current projects with fresher eyes.
Without breaks, going from classes to assignments, every day for hours at a time, can become overwhelming rather quickly. If you pace yourself just right, you can balance free time with classes.
3. Create a Work Playlist
Many students need absolute silence in order to get their work done, but I am not one of those students. I’ve created several playlists, each one for a different mood. Some songs make me want to dance - which helps to keep me active. Other songs allow me to picture myself in a cafe, typing away at my laptop, sipping tea.
You can switch between silence and noise as often as you wish. The closer it gets to my bedtime, the lower the volume goes, the less music plays, and, eventually, all I want is silence.
4. Communicate with Your Roommate(s)
Learning to talk to your roommate(s) is a basic life skill you learn in college. You are not clones, so there are bound to be times when your personalities conflict. Different class schedules, different study styles, different sleep styles, different energy levels, different anything, or sometimes everything about you and roommate(s) differ. This semester more than ever before you interact with your roommate(s).
Normally you’d be apart for classes or extracurricular activities, but now you need to stay together for hours at a time, in the same room. If something is bothering you, I recommend talking about it. If you let it fester for too long, you’ll explode, and that won’t be good for anyone.
As an example, let’s say your roommate needs to jam to music to get any work done, but they’re also a night owl and it’s already 11 pm. Maybe you can all come to an agreement where they wear headphones and keep only their desk light on. Or maybe they find a new study spot away from people so they can focus on their work until 1 am. Who knows? At least you can say you tried.
5. Prioritize! Prioritize! Prioritize!
The average college student does not solely take classes and do their homework. No, students are involved in clubs, sports, and other extracurricular activities. Students have work study positions on and off campus, and even work outside jobs here in Cedar Rapids. It’s fun and exciting to try new things and challenge ourselves to be better versions of ourselves, but it also takes a lot of time. The fact is, you won’t have enough time to do everything you need and want to do all the time.
The semester is just beginning, and it’s tempting to fill up any blank slots on your calendar. That’s the college experience. However, you are still a student and passing your classes is a top priority. Listen to me, I learned this lesson from experience: BURNOUT SUCKS.
Burnout is when you’re overworked and stressed and boom, your body can’t take it anymore and you crash. I’ve done this to myself multiple times since coming to Coe, and as a senior I can tell you that it wasn’t worth it. I wish I could tell myself to just drop that event or say no to a request, but I can’t change the past. Though, I can warn you not to make the same mistakes I did.
Take the time you have now to think about what really matters to you. Put those activities in your schedule, then see how much time you have left. Don’t forget to think about eating, sleeping, or relaxing with friends either. You’ll find that you have less time than you thought you did.
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I hope your first full week of classes is going well. Back-to-school season can be pretty hectic, but hopefully the tips mentioned in this post can help you get your bearings.
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