First semester can sometimes be a hard one to conquer. Through personal experience, I have come up with six semester strategies that have helped me improve, academically, in my later semesters.
- Procrastinate Procrastination
How often do we find ourselves saying “I’ll do it later,” or “I’ll get around to it soon.”
For me, all too often! I’ve learned that if I need something done, it
is nearly always best done as soon as possible. It is far too easy to
find something else to do. Accomplish a task before that show
comes on, before that special someone messages you or before you realize
you are too tired to function. - Time Management
A simple and effective method to reduce the likelihood of procrastination is to make a schedule that you will absolutely live by. There
are many ways to create an agenda or schedule, may it be with a pen and
paper or on MS Word. It can be as detailed as needed. Schedules have
allowed me to prioritize tasks that need to be done and to have them
done on time. All I need to remember is to add time for fun and
entertainment; otherwise I’ll find myself defying the laws of my
schedule.
- Using Available Resources
As
I’ve learned and many upper year students have known is that UTSC has
several available means of assistance in our courses. There are help
centers run by teaching assistants and professors have office hours.
Using said resources have proved to be substantially useful. Teaching
assistants are there to clarify your questions and professors can
further discuss material you may already know to better your
understandings of course concepts. An excellent time to visit professors
has been during or close to exam periods.
- Teamwork
Working
cohesively in a group can be an effective way to grasp concepts in your
subjects much quicker. I found that having multiple minds working on
the same subject allowed us to understand the trickier problems in our
courses. Working in small or large groups, depending on your preference
and ability to concentrate can make studying a lot easier. There are
various study groups organized by UTSC that can be discovered but groups
can also be among friends that share the same desire to achieve a high
grade in whatever courses you are focusing on.
- Coming to Class Prepared
“You
should read ahead” are words many of my professors have repeated during
lectures. I didn’t believe it at the time but their advice has proven
to be sincere. Coming to class with even a minimal knowledge of the
materials that will be covered can be useful. I found it better to come
to class already having questions and concerns floating in my head than
to leave the lecture with those concerns. It is likely that during the
lecture, said professor will explain the material in enough detail that
whatever issues you had prior to arriving to class will be answered.
- Go Above and Beyond
Going above and beyond can come in a variety of forms. For example: In Financial Accounting, it could be changing certain aspects to questions to see what different effects it can have on them. In mathematics it could be doing those extra questions that were never assigned. In Microeconomics
it could be reading the textbook to broaden your knowledge of the
theories. I’ve learned that taking that extra initiative to better your
understanding can certainly pay off.
Cornell Jones
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