How To Get Through College

As I come to the end of my first year of nursing, I have been reflecting on how I got through it all. I will give some tips and tricks of how I got through it.

1. Being Nervous is completely normal

I was so nervous starting college in my first year, and even when I came back my next year. I am a ball of anxiety, so I thought I was the only one who was terrified. But, in reality, almost every single person there is feeling nerves. It is scary, going to a brand new school, sometimes it's a brand new town, and new people. Just know that you're not alone.

2. Go to the Open House

I know this may seem pointless to go to the open house to some people, but it allows you to become familiar with the campus, some of the professors, and maybe even some people in your program. Not to mention, they normal have free goodies, games, and provide free lunch!

Me & Some of my gf's

3. Make Friends Right Away

This is harder said than done, but on the first day, do not sit in a seat as far away from everyone as possible, sit beside someone who looks friendly, and introduce yourself. If introducing yourself is too scary, don't worry, the teacher normally does an exercise on the first day of classes, where you have to introduce yourself to the class, or play some type of lame ice breaker game where you have to go and talk to others. In certain programs (nursing) it is very collaborative, and there will be many group projects, so it is good to have a group of people you can trust.

I am such a shy person when I first meet someone, and it is very hard for me to reach out and befriend people so thankfully, someone else made the first move, and now I have a group of girls who I would trust with my life.

4. Make a Weekly Schedule

This saved my life! Every Sunday night I would print off a template and fill it out. I would start by inserting blocks of time that are nonnegotiable (classes, work), I would then add time in for each class to work on homework, assignments, studying, etc. I would set a time for bed, and time for myself. I found it best to put aside the same amount of in class time as home, for example if my Anatomy class was 3 hours, I would do 3 hours of work for that class at home. I also found that it was very hard for me to think about school past 9pm, so I made sure to not have any school work past 9pm.

5. Do Homework on the Weekdays, keep Weekends for yourself

In addition to the schedule, ensure that you have time for yourself, such as break days. I made my "break days" on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, I usually work those days at my part-time job, so I found I wasn't having time to enjoy my weekends with work, and school. I would rather have an overload of school work every evening during the weekday, than to have to do any school work on the weekend.

6. Practice Practice Practice

In my program there are certain skills that we get tested on, and if your program is similar to that, my advice is to PRACTICE. There were so many times that I would be so intent on finishing my written work that I would forget to practice my skills, so at the last minute I would be trying to drill the skill into my head.

7. Study Study Study

Quantrary to belief, you don't have to cram sesh the night before. I have a professor who always tells me "do not memorize this, understand it." And that sticks with me, memorizing will just allow you to know it for the test, and then you will forget about it. If you understand something, it will stay with you. if you listen in your lectures, write good notes, and go over things consistently, there is no need for a hard core study session.

8. Write out Everything due in the Semester

To help with the weekly schedules, when you get your syllabi from every class, you should write out EVERY thing due in that class, when, and maybe how much of your grade it is worth. This helps by being able to visually see everything up and coming so that you can prioritize while creating your schedule. Not to mention how satisfying it Is to be able to cross something off of your list when it is done.

9. Breaks

There is a reason why the college makes the professors give us a 10-15minute break every 50 minutes. It is proven that studying for 30-50minutes at a time is best. I will turn my phone on do not disturb after setting a 50 minute timer, and I will focus only on what I am doing for those 50 minutes. This allows your brain to refresh and allow the information to marinate before beginning something new.

10. Sleep

Probably one of the most important things. Adoloscents are to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Set a time for bedtime that will allow you to get 8 hours, it makes all of the difference. If you have trouble falling asleep, I like to stop homework at least 2 hours before bed to be able to have 2 hours of me time, on top of that it is best to not be on your phone or laptop an hour before bed (I am not a good example of following this rule), sometimes If I know I will have troubles falling asleep (for the nights I am going to bed for 10pm) I will take a melatonin, it doesn't work for everyone but it is a natural sleeping pill. Other strategies that have helped me is a lavender sleep spray, yoga/meditation/stretching before bed, breathing exercises, and journaling/reflecting on the day.