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Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Scheduling Classes

I don't know a single college student who doesn't stress about scheduling classes. Every college has their own method as to how they schedule students' classes, but one thing they all have in common is  it is difficult to actually get your "perfect" schedule. I absolutely hate scheduling classes. It's been a challenge to get the classes I want at both of the colleges I've attended.  Next week I schedule my classes for the summer session and Fall semester of my senior year.  I cannot believe how quickly my time in college has gone.  I only have three semesters left after I complete this one, one of which I will spend in a school student teaching. Developing a schedule for this semester was incredibly tricky since the number of classes I have left is becoming smaller and smaller.

So how do I go about scheduling my classes?
At the beginning of my college career, I created an outline out with all of the classes I would need to take and what semester I would like to take them. Every semester this timeline gets rearranged, but it has helped guide me along the way.

Creating the Master Plan
one: To create this master plan you write down all the classes you need throughout your college career. 
two: Next look through the courses and jot down if they require any prerequisites.
three: You'll want to schedule class that are prerequisites earlier on in your college career. 
four: Figure out what semester you want to take each class and map out your four years appropriately.

Semester Scheduling:
one: Determine what classes 
Using the four year plan, see what classes you want to take in the upcoming semester.

two: Determine Prerequisites
Search your course catalog so make sure you've met the prerequisites for these courses.

three: List out all possibilities
Using your school's scheduling system look up each class and write down every possible time it is offered for that next semester. (be sure to note the time, days, professor, and location)

four: Rate My Professor
Sort through each class' professors and look them up on ratemyprofessor. This site is not always 100% correct, but more times than not it gives you a relatively good glance at what the course and the professor are like. 

five: Scehdule Priority Classes
Begin to form a schedule by first scheduling the classes that have a smaller number of sections that you must take that next semester.  These classes are your priority classes.
  When scheduling I use this to help guide me!.

six: Fill in the rest
Once you have figured out your priority classes,you can fill in your schedule with the remainder of your classes.

seven: Create several different schedules
Repeats steps 1-6 several times, so that you create a few different schedules.  The more you play around with arranging your schedule the more likely you are to find the "perfect schedule". 

eight: Meet your advisor
Make sure you schedule a meeting with your advisor to double check that the schedule you created will keep you on track to graduate when you want to. 

nine: SCHEDULE! 


Best of luck!
XOXO





Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Prioritizing Yourself

Birthday flowers from my family.

Life in college can be quite overwhelming.  It is easy to become too involved and forget about the important things in life.  Those important things that might be small but make you happy.  Balancing academics, involvement, relationships, friendships, and remembering to take care of yourself too can be difficult.  This is the lesson I am learning this semester.  Taking too much on your plate can cause you to become stressed, tired, overwhelmed, and prohibits you from functioning to your full capability.  

I am a perfectionist. I am obsessed with my grades. Since week one of this semester, I've been wishing it was over already.  That's definitely not a good outlook to have...wishing time away doesn't solve any problems, if anything it creates more. 
  
I like to be busy, but I have trouble drawing the line of when I shouldn't take any more on my plate.  I am beginning to realize that I am involved in so many things plus taking a full 19 credit course load is causing me to forget about myself.  I am doing all of these activities and studying, but I don't take the time to do things that make me happy.  This is definitely not a healthy way for me to live.

 I have not been allowing there to be any "me time" this semester.  For example, I've hardly blogged since the semester started and it's not because I don't have any ideas...it's because I am not taking the time out of my day to write.  Writing is something that makes me happy, it gets my creative juices flowing.  I have been working out but not nearly as much as I should be.  I've had "Paint nails" on my to do list  for about a month now but haven't actually done it.  All three of these things are small, but I'm just putting everything and everyone before myself.  

Being on the go 24/7 is beginning to take a toll on my mental health.  I haven't been in the best spirits. I feel like I am drowning in life. I don't feel like I have enough time for anything. My brain feels foggy. I am lacking motivation. All I want to do is sleep.This is not the way I want to endure this semester. I need to make a change or else the next ten weeks will be incredibly long and painful.

Beginning this week, I've began to take little time each day to do something for myself.  I think this change will give me a better outlook on things and will hopefully stop this drowning feeling I've been experiencing the past few weeks. 

Here is how I plan to spend my "me" time this week:
Monday: Read some of my favorite blogs and whatch the Bachelor
Tuesday: Workout and watch Vanderpump Rules
Wednesday: Workout and draft a blog post
Thursday: Paint my nails
Friday: Workout 


How do you make time for yourself when life gets busy?

XOXO


Monday, February 2, 2015

Mood Changers


College can be quite a lot to handle and sometimes I find myself feeling stressed/overwhelmed. The combination of these two feelings is not a good one.  They oftentimes distract me and as a result decrease my productivity. For these reasons it is important to get out of this funk as quickly as possible.

I have a small list of things that can be instant mood changers.

Fresh flowers

Watching a half hour of Netflix

Organizing something (my room, closet, desk, school supplies, etc.)

Talking to my parents or friends

A good workout

Taking a 30 minute nap

New school supplies

Reading blogs

Candles

Painting my nails/toes

A cup of tea

A sweet treat

It is only the third week of the semester and I am already beginning to feel overwhelmed.  This semester I am taking nineteen credits, coaching field hockey, training for a half marathon, and I'm an active member/officer in my sorority. Needless to say that my time is limited and my work load is large.  This morning I got my eyebrows waxed and it just made me realize that sometimes the smallest things can help me feel relaxed.

What helps change your mood?

XOXO