I hate the first week of school.
It’s not finding my classes, or sitting through hours upon hours of mindless syllabi lectures.
It’s the mindset. Every semester it is so difficult to get out of summer mode and back into a scholastic thinking program. Since there are probably a lot of people with the same issue, here are three ways students can get out of the funk.
First, find a group.
Getting involved with an organization on campus is the best thing to cure those missing summer blues. There are over a hundred active groups on campus, all of which offer various levels of participation. Hell, if a student has an easy schedule, he or she can get involved in several groups. This will allow college attendees to meet other like-minded people, increasing their social network and establishing items to place on a job application.
Second, there is the importance of establishing yourself in class.
This idea may not be for everyone, seeing as most new students tend to be back dwellers. But for those who are extroverts, actively participating in class will severely help cut back on the monotony of the day-to-day lectures. I’m not saying be a nuisance, but in smaller classes a bit of well-timed levity here and there will help everyone involved get past what could be a grueling hour-and-fifteen minutes.
Finally, read something other than a textbook.
It’s very easy for students to get bogged down with the excessive reading in college. Reading something with a plot, or really anything with creative language keeps the mind fresh. It makes textbooks seem like not such a chore and keeps the mind actively thinking about ideas otherwise not covered.
For me these three tidbits are lifesavers. Still, I miss the summer and have yet to become fully acclimated to scholastic life again, but it beats a summer job in a grocery store.