First 21 Days of School

I might have gotten busy with school and forgot about this blog and all of the important stuff I wanted to impart on the rest of you newly/currently school bound folk. Here is a list of things I learned about going back to school to fill in the first 21 days of school.

1. Always Have Snack Money- You have no idea how frustrating it is to forget breakfast and have no money to get a candy bar or other super healthy snack.
2. Bring Water- Staying hydrated is an important part of staying healthy. Also it will help you think longer and not have what I like to call a low focusing day.
3. Do Your Homework- This may seem like a no brainer, but it is really important. If you start doing your homework immeadiatly you never have to worry about getting behind
4. The Same Goes for Reading- Do all you reading. All of it. It helps make class easier and it allows you to participate in class discussions without looking like an idiot.
5. Participate in Class- Teachers love it when you are an active participant. Make sure that you are participating not interrupting.
6. Communicate- When you have to miss a class, assignment or something changes in your life preventing you from doing something for class; let your teacher know.
7. Plan, Plan and More Plan- For assignments due way out in the future, make a plan and stick to it. Nothing is worse then having to write a paper the night before.
8. Write Down Everything- I mean it, nothing is so insignificant that you don’t need to know it.
9. Record It- If you cannot write fast enough then you need to record it so you can write it down later.
10. Make Friends- Find someone, or two someones, in each of you classes that you can trade notes, study and talk with. This will give you a person to get note from and they can then get notes from you, of course this means you have to take notes.
11. Set Aside Time to Study- Life happens, a lot. You need to make sure that you take the time to study. What makes this easier is if you set aside time to study. Make sure that set aside the same time every day and/or week, that way your friends, family and pets will know that that time is study time.
12. Set Aside a Study Area- Make a place that is your academic domain. Get a nice hard surface to work on. If you have no good areas to work in your house then go to the local library and use their study rooms.
13. Get a Good Night Sleep- Go to bed early and set your alarm. Make sure that you give yourself enough time to sleep and that you wake up refreshed. Getting to much sleep is as bad as not getting enough.
14. Get Advised- As a returning or continuing education student things have changed from when you first went to school. If you have never been to school before, advisors can really help you.
15. Get Advised- This is on here twice because you should get advised at your school and any school you are planning on attending. The advice you get about course you should take from the school you want to transfer to is more important then what you current school advisor says.
16. Get Involved- Don’t be a wall flower, go to events. Most of the events during the day involve some sort of free lunch. Plus being involved
17. Help Others- When you see another student struggling in a class that you excel in, help them. There is a chance that that person is good at something that you may be poor at, you can then ask them to help.
18. Relax- Plan relaxing into your day. If there is something that you like to do, plan breaks in your studies that allow you to do this. For me this is Castle Crashers on the XBOX 360(gamertag: KIL4GOD).
19. Be Thankful- Chances are your spouse, kids or other family member have also made sacrifices to help you succeed in school. Make sure they know how much you appreciate their help. This could be making them dinner, taking them to a movie or just say “Thanks”.
20. Exercise- School exercises your mind plenty, so take the time to exercise your body. Nothing feels greater then giving your mind a rest and running, riding a bike or playing Wii Fit.
21. Read the Tao of Pooh- I am not going to get preachy about the benefit of Taoism, I will just say that this book will teach you how to accept what you can’t change and relax in everyday situations.

There you have it, what I learned in the first 21 days of school. Some of them I haven’t done a lot of yet, #9 and #16 I am looking at you, but others I have done more then anything else this semester, go #5 and #4. I will try to be a little better about blogging. Please share what you learned about going to school while you where going to school in the comments.