Tips for SMFA First-Years
To be honest, my first year at SMFA at Tufts was a bumpy road. I laughed a lot, cried a lot, but most importantly, I learned countless important life…
Time to Change Strategies
I learned college can be a lot last semester and sought out resources accordingly; I went to the STAAR Center workshops, attended tutoring sessions, went to office hours, and started planning out my days. Now three weeks into my second semester at college I’m starting to learn that this strategy isn’t really working for me anymore. My classes and commitments started to conflict with STAAR Center workshops, tutoring sessions, and office hours. I haven’t been as accurate with my planning because I’m not sure how long assignments for my new classes will take me to complete. I felt overwhelmed and behind even though classes had just barely started, so I spent the last weekend coming up with ways to stay on top of my work, make sure I’m really understanding the content, and plan ahead and now I’m going to share my tips for dealing with a difficult semester early on.
Just Breathe
It’s really easy to get overwhelmed before you even begin and that might prevent you from trying to tackle the obstacles ahead of you. Take a break and do something relaxing when you feel like you might be overwhelmed. Tufts always has many different events going on throughout the entire week so if I need a break I might go to a giveaway at the Campus Center or an event planned by the Tufts University Social Collective, TUSC. It’s always a nice reminder that college isn’t just about learning and that there are things to do out there other than studying. Don’t feel guilty for not doing work all the time, just find a good balance for you!
Be Intentional with your Time
Time is a precious commodity in college. Between actual classes, extracurricular activities, jobs or other commitments, and assignments, it may seem like there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything, but I promise there are. Last semester, my planning would just consist of lecture and club meeting times and a to-do list of what I wanted to accomplish that day. Now, my planning is by the hour and since I don’t really know how long each assignment will take just yet, I add in an extra hour for each assignment each day. I make sure to plan times to eat and try to join my friends for meals and group study sessions. I also learned how to prioritize different tasks based on difficulty and importance which made planning a much less daunting task.
Get Help
Even if scheduling conflicts are preventing you from using your usual resources, there are still many more out there meant to help you! If you really need to meet with a professor and they have office hours that don’t work for you, it doesn’t hurt to email and ask if they are available at any other times or if you can email any questions you have. Also check if your TAs have office hours that work with your schedule. Finding friends in your classes to do homework and prepare for exams with could also be a great way to talk to other people about what you’re struggling with. Lastly, reach out to upperclassmen who have taken the class to see if they could help explain concepts and check over work.
College is hard, but that doesn’t mean we can just give up! We’re always going to have to adapt to new challenges and starting early is the best way to do it.
