-“Do you have your T-Card?”
-“Yup.”
-“Pens and pencils?”
-“Check.”
-“Did you shut off your phone?”
-“Oh no, I almost forgot!!”
These overheard conversations give a strong indication that midterms are finally here! Yup, no need for the fashion police because track pants, socks and sandals, no make-up, and pony tails are in style this week. It is that time of year where hygiene is lower on the priority list and stress levels are high. However, there is no need to worry because stress buster activities facilitated by the Health and Counselling Centre on campus give you the tools – and the free and delicious fruits and vegetables – to cope with the chaos.
I have to say I learned a whole lot the hard way in my first year of university. Realizing the day before your French test that grammar is much more complicated to understand than in high school is not a good feeling to experience! It was soon after I attended a residence life workshop about how to beat procrastination that I decided to invest in a calendar and create a study game plan. These are two of the numerous simple and effective ways that help me balance studying, sleeping, and spending time with family and friends.
What I really want to emphasize is the importance of both studying hard and squeezing in time for your friends and family into your game plan. In hectic times like these, it is easy to forget to take breaks from studying and, for some of us, to take a shower! Ensure that you occasionally put down those books and mark on your calendar a planned phone call to your mom, dad, brother, or sister, or maybe even watch an episode of the Big Bang Theory with some close friends in between studying.
Another bonus to using a calendar is the fact that it makes counting down the days until Reading Week so much easier. Giving yourself a visual representation of what your week/month looks like grants you the opportunity to set both short and long term attainable goals and it makes the rough times bearable.
UTM students can feel stressed right now because some of us are wanting to go home to family, some are praying for snow and wanting to hit the ski slopes, and some of us have planned to hop on a plane to spend the week sleeping on a beach! University organizations and clubs also plan trips during the break for great prices such as the four day trip to Montreal happening this year. How fantastic is that? Because, realistically, after all this stress with studying for these mid-terms, who really “reads” during reading week? Wait a minute, isn’t miserable March just after Reading Week? Maybe catching up on all those readings is a good idea! Mark that down on your calendar!
My message is this: have a strategy which includes studying efficiently with breaks and don’t forget to reward yourself for all that hard work!
Carla Correa is from Caledon, Ontario and is a a second year
student in the Concurrent Teacher Education Program. She's pursuing an Honours Bachelor
of Science, double majoring in Exceptionality in Human Learning and French
Language Teaching and Learning and a minor in Biology. She's part of the
Residence Life Staff as a Residence Don. She loves zip-lining and playing volleyball, basketball and soccer.
