How I Survived My First Semester in College

I feel so accomplished finishing my first semester of college without failing or dying. Given the fact that my course is borderline demanding and hard, it extremely requires you effort to study because you have grades to maintain. I’m a scholar as well, so my GPA requires being much higher. I’m blogging about this because (1) I want to backread my blog and read how much my study habits have changed and (2) this might help you guys too! :)

Note: I am a visual learner, so almost all stuff after the cut is enticing to one’s sight.

I hope this helps! :)

Can I just say that these babies are the most important objects in my life? I can’t study without them. Seriously. Since I told you that I’m a visual learner, I need everything to be in color to make my brain realize that I need to remember that word or that phrase. I am totally impulsive when it comes to the colors of my highlighters; I tend to highlight with a certain color because of my mood. But, this is what I usually do: I highlight terms in a certain color, and their definitions in a certain color as well. When I do that, I am aware which ones are the most essential words (terms), and what phrases are most likely to appear as a question (definitions). It has been effective for me so I hope it’ll do the same for you guys! :)

Another essential for me are these cute colored ballpens! My learning really depends on my mood, so when I feel a little lazy to learn, I motivate myself by writing in color. Professors rarely check notebooks nowadays, so you can decide how you want your notes to look like. I decided to make my  notebook look like a freaking coloring book! I do outlines a lot (will be discussed in the latter part of this post!), so these babies come in handy as well. I could also use them for projects and other DIYs so better invest in a good set of colored pens! :)

I am actually a big fan of flashcards! In the previous semester, I had subjects that required memorizing a ton of terms and definitions (Finance and Biology). So to help me memorize, I make a bunch of flashcards! I just put the terms on one side of the card and the definition on the other side. I have a gigantic stock on all sizes (5”x8”, 4”x6” and 3”x5”) just in case I need a ton of index cards.

I am an organization freak because I forget a lot of things when I don’t write them down somewhere. Thus, I am extremely grateful for the existence of my beloved planner. I used to have a gigantic and thick planner at the start of the year, but then when college started and I had a lot of stuff to bring to school, I found it inconvenient to bring a heavy planner. So I decided to buy a Moleskine notebook instead and DIY the pages for it to look like a planner. Plus, I can put this mini planner in the smallest of bags, so it’s super convenient! 

As you can see, I am also an avid fan of sticky notes! I put them literally everywhere; in my planner, books, notebooks, walls, calendars, everywhere! I put them in my planner to come up with to do lists and what not. As for my books, whenever the professor has some additional information about the chapter, I simply put them in sticky notes. Those sticky flags (the rainbow colored ones) are the best things I discovered because they come extremely handy when teachers ask you to read chapters and you need something to bookmark them. I seriously hate folding my books (total pet peeve!) especially if I borrow them, so these flags are life savers! Gotta love these little heroes. 

This might not work for everyone, because let's admit it, there will come a point where you’ll feel extremely lazy to rewrite all information from books and notes. But for me, I remember stuff WAY WAY WAY better when I write them down. Plus, I dread bringing all my books and notebooks during my exam day, so I feel that it is more convenient to bring outlines. I also don’t print them out, because I don’t remember them at all. HAHAHA! I have been imparted with the curse of not remembering anything unless I write them. But it’s perfectly fine with me, because it’s the reason why I do pretty good in school.

Since I am a total organizational freak, I lowkey like envelopes a lot. Professors usually give a lot of handouts and take home tests, so I’d like to organize them by subject. =))

BONUS:

Here are a few apps that I use (and help me a lot) when studying:

ClearFocus Pomodoro Timer

If you guys aren't aware of the Pomodoro technique, it is a studying technique that allows you to study for 25 minutes straight, then gives you a 5 minute break, then 25 minutes of studying again. This app serves as my timer, and it allows me to block certain apps during my work time. I highly suggest this app! :)

Merriam Webster Dictionary

Let's face it, we're not the extreme vocabulary geek. We'll need this once in a while. ;)

myHomework Student Planner

If carrying a planner doesn't suit you, then this app will! You can add up your class schedule and designate assignments, quizzes and meetings. You can also put your extra-curricular activities here so it's pretty effective! :)

 

That's a wrap! I do hope this would help people in one way or another.

Until the next post!