Addressing Early Semester Missteps
By mid-February to March 1st, most colleges and universities in the United States have already had several weeks of classes. And, by this time, you most likely have already made at least one bad decision when it comes to prioritizing your schoolwork.
The first thing I want to tell you is that it will not help if you beat yourself up mentally over a single mistake. Holding a mistake against yourself is not going to make anything better. You need to reframe this misstep as a one-time mistake, and a single action does not define who you are as a person.
Second, do not let this become a trend. Let this be an outlier and not your new pattern of behavior for how you approach a course for the duration of the semester.
Third, try to determine the actual cause of the misstep. Try to ask “why” to yourself a few times to find the root cause of the problem. For instance: Why was my assignment late? I didn’t start it early enough. Why? Because I hung out with my friends. Why? I felt I needed a break. Why? Because I am over-involved between classes, a part-time job, and extracurriculars.
Fourth, connect with resources on campus to help you overcome the cause of the challenge in the first place. Resources that could be of use to prevent the issue include academic support resources, academic advising, and counseling services.
For example, if you did not read before your lecture once (or twice), do not let this become a pattern for the semester where you just cram all the readings a few days prior to the exam in that class. As someone who reads this newsletter, you know that studying over time is the best strategy. Maybe you need to improve your time management strategies and assignment management techniques to address this issue. Your university’s academic support office could help provide you with these skills.
Another example would be missing a class. Maybe you were not feeling great and slept in late, so instead of walking into class 10 minutes late, you decided to skip class altogether. It is really easy to miss a class and think to yourself, well since I missed the first part of the chapter 5 lecture, I don’t know what is going on, so I am going to miss part 2 of chapter 5. Do not go down this rabbit hole! Walking into class 10 minutes late and listening to 40 minutes of content is better than missing an entire 50-minute lecture. And, if you are struggling with your health (mental or physical), you can always go to the on-campus health center or connect with the mental health and counseling center on campus for additional support to address the root of the problem.
Now, if you were running late to class because you have ongoing insomnia issues, then you should find a local physician to help with this or make an appointment with your doctor back home. Or, if you are running late to class because your class immediately before has a professor who consistently runs over time. I suggest you make a friend in that earlier class and in the second class, so you do not have gaps in your notes. I also suggest first talking to the professors of both your courses to explain the challenge you are facing getting from the first class to the other. As a last resort, you may want to consider submitting a complaint to the department as other students may have the same issue of being late to an immediately following course.
My overall advice to you is to not make a misstep become a trend for the semester or your academic career. Just like train tracks that diverge, you can decide how quickly to switch tracks to get back on the path you were already taking toward your academic goals.
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