It's that time of the year again when all students, teachers, faculty, and staff members return back to school. As a current student, I will like to share some tips and recommendations to you all in order to have a successful and productive academic year. I am a staunch advocate for education for all, which is why education is one of the pillars of my personal platform (SHERO) as Miss Sierra Leone USA, because I believe that education and experience play vital roles in the empowerment of individuals as well as communities. Feel free to leave comments/suggestions in the comment section below.
DO
Have a nice and well-kept hair for the start of school, and this applies to both women and men. You do not want to start the school year with messy hair, not a good look for you at all. Your image and appearance matters.
DON'T
Be in a relationship with someone that stresses you out and is full of negativity, things like these are contagious. In starting a new school year, one needs to be well motivated and happy, because it definitely affects grades and attitude towards performance in school.
DO
Get all your stationery shopping done on time and be reasonable about it. Get items that you need and definitely know you would put into use in your academics. College students, this is the time to refill on your Ramen noodles and Yakisoba, because we live for that especially late-night hunger.
DON'T
Be involved in ten million activities before school starts whereby it'll be difficult for you to handle with your academics, because classes get more demanding as the semester/year goes by. I am guilty of this and still working on it. Be honest with yourself and do not think that the 24 hours we have in life will suddenly multiply, because that's not going to happen.
DO
Make a list of goals for the academic year such as your intended grade for each class and how you plan to study and handle that class. This is normally easy to do if it's a class that is being taken again, but new classes can also be figured out just from knowing people's experiences in the past with that course.
DON'T
Be intimidated by your professors or teachers and not getting help when needed. Yes there are teachers that are just naturally mean, but there are also the good ones who actually care about the well-being of their students and not just their professor ranking. Waiting last minute to get help or not getting help at all is one of the worst things that can be done while in school, because there'll come a time that you'll regret it.
DO
Enter the school year with determination to improve on time management. Time is very crucial for students because we sometimes get "lucky" in getting professors/teachers who give so many assignments as if that's the only class students are taking; be mindful of these kind of instructors. No matter how good you are with time management, do not ever disregard the importance of time and how much work must be put into your academics.
DON'T
Take so many classes thinking you can handle them and in the end do poorly in them, that's not a smart thing to do. There has been a time whereby I took so many courses in university and in the end, I didn't do very well in all of them. This was because I paid more attention and invested more time in some classes than the others. It wasn't that those classes were more important, it was because those classes required more time in the assignments than I expected.
DO
Look back at the previous academic year and reflect on the things that you did that helped you succeed and the things that created ruckus. Choose what worked and discard the things and habits that hurt your academic performance. The most important thing students can do for themselves is having a balance in all their classes. I have been guilty in the past of focusing on one particular course due to its intensity whereby in the end it hindered my performance in my other classes.
DON'T
Forget to eat and treat yourself. I am guilty of just being so delved into homework sometimes that I forget to eat, that may sound silly to you but trust me it happens. Do not lock yourself up in some corner all day studying or in front of a computer screen doing homework. Do not schdedule your life solely to academics and nothing to do with socializing.
Have a fantastic academic semester/year filled with wisdom, knowledge, and understand. Good luck!!!
Read Part II
Your Miss Sierra Leone USA
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