Finals week is approaching!

Although it feels like finals are forever away with another whole week of classes left after this week, they are approaching must faster than you are anticipating. There is never as much time to study before finals week as you think there is. It is not effective to study just the weekend before finals like many people choose to do. The best way to truly be prepared for finals is to start studying now. It is not necessary at this point to be doing practice exams and hours after hours of studying, but start by reading over your noted from the beggining of the semester for about 15 minutes a night. If start to look over the stuff that you haven't thought about for over a month it will come back to you much more easily ten if you try to cram the weekend before finals week.
You may not feel like you have time for something like that when all of your classes are assigning final projects and homework assignments, but it will make your life so much easier during finals week so it really is worth it! Why not add a little extra stress on now so you aren't as stressed during finals week right? But really it will also help you to retain the material a lot better if you begin to reveiw it ahead of time. Our brains are not capable of remembering information that is coming in for hours straight which is exactly what ends up happening if you wait to study until the weekend before finals.
Finals week is also the last time you wil have to spend time with your friends before summer so wouldn't you like to have more free time then? On top of having free time, I'm sure you would be more enjoyable to be around if you aren't stressing about the cramming you need to do. So do yourself a favor and start preparing for finals now. It will make your last week of freshmen year at Penn State a lot more enjoyable and you will do better on your finals on top of it!

social life!!!

First semester as I was trying to get the hang of this whole college thing I didn’t realize how important the social aspect of college really is. All I could worry about was getting my school work done and maintaining a 3.4 GPA to stay in the Honors College. There is a lot more in life though than just working and academics. This semester I got involved in the Student Council of the Honors College and it has truly changed my college experience. To feel like you are part of a group that is making a difference but has fun while they do it is a great feeling. I would highly suggest getting involved in some sort of club because it makes you feel more at home in a school as big as Penn State. Of course getting all of your work done is important too. You will have time to do it though even being involved in a club. Club meeting tend to only be one night a week for an hour, and no matter how many classes you take you can definitely give up an hour each week. And then when you have extra time you can get involved in the different activities the club holds. I have been giving tours with the student council on Friday and Sunday afternoons, which is an example of fun little things a club would provide for you to do with a bunch of the friends you meet.

Building a social life in college is a great way to keep yourself happy which in turn will help you maintain your grades. I know when I am happier and having a lot of fun when I’m not doing my work it makes me more willing to get my work done and I can concentrate a lot easier. You’re around a bunch of other people your age through college so take advantage of it! Whether it is a club or just hanging out with friends on your floor, everyone needs a break from studying or you will never really get anything done efficiently. Make your college experience fun while you get a great education, and you will not regret it!

No more exams!!

This seems to be the last big exam week before finals!! It feels great to be done with midterms, but this is not the time to slack off just because you feel like you're done with most of your work for the semester. For most classes the finals are cummulative, so it is necessary to continue doing all of your work and learning all of the new material just as well as you learned the material for all of the other exams. On top of learning the new material you also need to be concerned with the stuff that was on the past exams so your work is not done by any means. The more you prepare ahead of time by studying for exams early, the less studying you will have to do when it comes to finals week. It will also keep your stress levels down for finals if you already feel like you've studied the material enough beforehand and all you really have left is to look over it just as a review a few more times.
That said- I think you definately do need to try to relax still and take in the last few weeks freshmen year! Sounds so weird I can't believe how fast it went. Anyway, if you relax a little bit the last few weeks of classes they you will be all ready to sudy very hard and do well on finals. It would definately be a good idea to try to get enough sleep now so that finals week you are all caught up and if you need to stay up later one night study then it won't be such a big deal. Its still important to get lot of sleep for finals so that you have a rested brain during the exam and you can think straight, but as long as you aren't already sleep deprived  then one night of late studyig won't hurt you much.
Remember still to always take some study breaks. Summer is coming up so go to the gym--get your summer bod back! That won;t happen by eating an entire can of icing but sometimes that is needed too =]

EXAMS!

Its another exam week, and its crunch time at this point because for most classes its the last exam before the final. Everyone wants to ensure that they have good grades going into the final so they aren't as stressed during finals week. Usually this time of year would provide very nice weather to distract the students but State College threw a curve ball with the snow yesterday. This weather though can cause lot of problems with people because it can be kind of depressing since it is supposed to be warm out. Still you just need to buckle down an remember that soon enough the semester will be over. You just need to try your hardest to give yourself a nice cushion for the final so that you are not as stressed with multiple exams all in the same week.
Having a few finals during the semester can obviously be stressful, but just study as much as you can and don't let silly things distract you. Something that helps me when I have a lot of work to do is actually making myself more busy. If I have studying to do then I always put it off until the last moment I have, but if I'm busy and I only have a certain time slot to study then it forces me to do it ahead of time. Then if I don't know the stuff as well then I can rearrange the plans I had to fit more studying in.
Good activities to fill your time with is working out, even if its just in your room, because it makes you feel better and helps you to concentrate better. Also just a quick 20 minute chat with your friends because it helps you clear your mind and be able to focus again. Some people also like to take a quick break to check their facebook or twitter or some other online account which can also help you to take your mind off of things for a little bit so you can focus again. Just remember, the end of the semester is just as important as the beginning, so don't throw away all the work you already put in.

Group Projects

In college everyone obviously has very different schedules and a lot of different activities they are involved in that take up time outside of class. Having a group project sometimes can cause a lot of stress with everyone having open time slots at different points during the day. It is possible to make it work though! One great way to keep in contact with your group is through a thread on facebook, because let's face it- everyone has a facebook and probably checks it more often than their actual email address. Also you may just need to meet with your group even if one or two people can't come. Its really not a big deal if that happens because the work will get done whether or not that extra person is there or not. Then the next time you plan to meet, make sure that the person who couldn't come last time is able to come. As long as everyone comes to a majority of the meetings you will always be able to get a lot of work done, and really sometimes its more productive to have smaller groups meet to work on the project because too many people can just get in the way if there are only small things to get done.
It is extremely important to make a schedule and a list of what each person is responsible for and when they need to have it done by. If no one knows what they need to work on outside of the group meetings than one of two things will happen- either nothing will get done at all or one person will end up doing the entire project which is not fair. Having set jobs for people were ensure that everything that needs to get done for the project will happen in a timely manner. Although roup projects may be stressful, you can definately accomplish everything that needs to happen to finish them as long as you are organized and stick to your plan.

Spring Break Hangover

After every break it always seems so hard to get back into the swing of things. The classes, homework, getting up early are never as easy after a nice relaxing break, but with only 8 weeks left it seems like its possible. It always makes things more managable when you can start to count down how many exams and papers you have left. Another thing that is causing some disraction from schoolwork is the weather. With the weather getting so much nicer and the sun shining, it is so tempting to just go outside and play some kind of sport with your friends. A good way to go outside and still get your work done though is to just do your homework outside. There are benches all over campus or you could always put a blanket down on the hub lawn and get some work done. I find it very relaxing to do homework outside and when I'm relaxed I am able to get a lot of work done. You can also skip going to the gym and go for a run, or play a sport with your friends but limit yourself to only playing for about an hour. You need exercise anyway and if you go to the gym for an hour, playing a sport for an hour will work just as well.
Don't let the changing season and  laziness from break distract you. The end is in sight so keep up all your hard work that you have put in. Use the sunlight to your advantage. I know when it stays light out longer it helps me to stay awake as I'm doing my homework. And just think if you do all of your homework through the week then you will have more time on the weekends to enjoy the nice weather! A saturday afternoon would be perfect to go for a nice walk around campus or downtown. And if you feel like you need to get out through the week and you just can't focus on your homework anymore, then taking a quick 15 minute walk while the weather is nice may clear your mind so that you are able to get work done again. Dpring is my favorite season and I can't wait to take advantage of it!

State Patty's Day

With State Patty's Day this weekend, it was very hard to get much work done. I had to work a bake sale from 1-5 downtown and after that I had planned on getting work done, but I just couldn't. The bake sale was tiring from standing out in the cold for 4 hours, screaming to try to get everyone to buy baked good, which were very appealing to them in their state of mind. Plus, after seeing everyone out and about, my friend and I just could not buckle down and force ourselves to do homework. I had a lot of work to do this week too with two exams and an essay due, so this week was a little rough.

Even though Spring break was coming up and I really wanted to try to see all my friends as much as possible before going home, I had to get my work done and put a lot of time into studying. It was hard at times, but knowing that at the end of the week it would all be over and I'd be able to go home and relax made doing the work a lot easier. A lot of my friends also had a lot of exams and other work too so we just banded together and got it done. We took short little study breaks to keep our sanity, and instead of going to the gym which can take a lot of time, we just did a short ab workout in our room. Doing a short workout doesn't take long and it makes you feel better so taking a break from studying to even just do 50 crunches is very helpful. It is impossible to pay attention and retain the information you are studying if you study without a break for more than about an hour straight. I got all my work done, I just need to edit my english paper, and it feels great. So just remember you will get through all your work, just do what you need to keep yourself from getting too stressed.