Hello everyone!
After a long summer break, I’m
sure the last thing most of you want to do is think about going back to school
(or college, or university!). However, since I’m going to university this
September, I thought a blog post about how to prepare yourself during the back
to school season would be appropriate!
I left sixth form back in 2016
and I haven’t had to worry about having to go back to school for long time, but
now that’s all different! I hope that you find these tips useful and can
incorporate them into your own preparations for going back to school!
#1 CHANGE YOUR MINDSET
After not being in school for a
number of weeks, I’m sure a lot of people begin to feel some type of animosity
towards school. It’s understandable; during summer break you can do whatever
you want and sleep whatever time you like. There aren’t any rigid routines to
stick to and you can carve out your time however you see fit.
However, carrying this mindset
into the new academic year is going to do more damage than good! I’m a firm believer that your mind and your mindset shape your
reality, and if your mindset is rooted in negative emotions, your reality
will be rooted in negativity too. So, you may find that going back to school is
a horrid experience, when in fact you have the power to change that completely.
Try to adopt a much more positive stance towards going back to school. The
thing that helps me most is watching study YouTubers, such as UnJaded Jade, IbzMo, and Mariana’s Study Corner. More study bloggers exist on other social media
platforms like Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest. Find some content creators that
inspire you and get you excited to go back to school. (Maybe it also helps that
I’m a massive nerd too, but hey-ho 🤓).
You can begin to shift your
mindset by saying affirmations to yourself daily until
you get back to school and all throughout the semester. Affirmations are short
powerful statements that you say to yourself in the present tense to keep you
conscious of your thoughts. For the context of school, you can try these
affirmations out:
- I enjoy attending class.
- I have positive study habits.
- Achieving high grades comes naturally to me.
- I love learning new things.
- My friends help me succeed in my studies.
- I wake up looking forward to going to school.
Say these to yourself every day
to change your mindset from a negative one to a positive one. When you control
your thoughts and are conscious of them, your actions reflect this, which will then
be reflected in your entire reality!
#2 REFLECT ON YOUR PAST YEAR
Now that you’ve changed your
mindset when it comes to school, it’s time to reflect on how your last academic
year went.
Was your year overall a success
or a failure?
Did you achieve what you set out to?
Reflecting on the past, especially
when there are some not-so-great moments can be tough sometimes, but when
it comes to school, looking back on how it all went down will help you improve
the future.
If you notice anything that you
aren’t proud of, make a note to change
it for the upcoming year.
One exercise that can certainly
help is the Current Me vs Future Me exercise created by Lavendaire (or in this
case, Past Me vs Future Me). In her video, Aileen draws out her current self
and details how she wants her future self to be an improved version of herself.
This can certainly help by you looking at your past self and detailing how you
want your future self to be different.
When I did this in sixth form, I
looked back on the me in Year 11 and made a note of how I wanted to change
going into Year 12, and again when I was going from Year 12 to Year 13.
This is something that certainly
helps, and it’s probably something you already do once the “New year, new me”
season comes rolling in! Give it a go for your academic year, and see how you
get on!
#3 SET GOALS
My next important tip is to set
some goals – both academic and personal.
Goals give you something to
strive towards, and offer motivation
for the times when you feel overwhelmed or unwilling to work.
Examples of academic goals are to
get an A in a specific class, to read all the class material, or to finish all
of your work on time. Examples of personal goals could be to wake up early
every day, to make more of an effort to speak in class, or to make sure you set
some time aside for exercise.
You must make sure your goals, no
matter what they are, are specific,
realistic, achievable and time-specific.
#4 GO STATIONERY SHOPPING
Without a doubt, this just has to
be my favourite part of the back to school season!
For some reason, I am just one of
those people who get super excited when I go out to buy new notebooks, new
pens, new folders, new everything!
Even though it’s exciting and I
can get a little carried away, it’s important to do this with a strategic eye. Only buy equipment that you need and that
you know you’ll use. Don’t buy a massive set of pens just because they look
pretty when you know you’ll probably only use them once. Don’t buy a ton of
pretty notebooks when you know you’ll get to the end of the year having only
used a handful of them.
After buying all of your
stationery, see what else you need for school, such as electronics, a new bag,
or maybe even new clothes. The general rule of thumb though, is to not go overboard and only buy what you know you’ll use!
#5 READ OVER THE MATERIAL
One thing I wish I did more of (but
I’m glad I’m doing now) is to read over the material you’ll be learning over
the course of the next semester.
Back in sixth form, I only looked
over my psychology notes because we were going to have a test on new material
the week we went back after summer (brutal, I know!).
This time around, I’m going over
Chinese vocabulary and grammar (like in this Insta post here), and some anatomy
because it’s been such a long time and the stakes certainly feel higher.
Use your shiny new stationery to go over content that you weren’t so strong
on last year.
If you are re-taking any exams,
this is a perfect time to go over the content because chances are, you still
have your old notes with you. Go through the reading list provided by your university and do some research on any new topics you’ll be
covering once you get back to school.
#6 FIX YOUR SLEEPING SCHEDULE
While buying new stationery is my
favourite thing to do this time of year, trying to fix my sleep schedule is
probably my least favourite thing.
Sleeping and waking up at a
regular time when you’re in school is vital to making your school experience
that much better. As I said above, summer means you can carve out your time
however you wish and if that means going to sleep at 3am binge-watching
something on Netflix, then so be it! Unfortunately in school this just won’t
cut it.
Some things you can do to fix
your sleep schedule are:
- Wake up at the same time every day (5am, 6am, 7am)
- Go to sleep early at roughly the same time every day.
- Keep your alarm away from your bedside.
- Disable the snooze option!
- Sleep in a cool room, rather than hot, to improve quality of sleep.
- Use essential oils, like lavender, if you have trouble falling asleep.
- Have something to look forward to in the morning, like a good breakfast or journaling.
- Pack your bag the night before!
During the academic year, I also
made sure to sleep for at least 8 hours, but when it approached exam season, I
could manage to run on 5 hours in order to make time for studying. Make sure
you’re getting an adequate amount of
sleep and that you’re waking up
early. I talked about why waking up early is amazing in this blog post
right here!
Fixing your sleep schedule now,
rather than later will save you a lot of pain once you get back to school, so
start now!
#7 GET A GOOD SUPPORT SYSTEM
Last, but certainly not least, is
to get yourself a good support system.
This can range from friends, to
parents, to teachers, to siblings; anyone
you can go to when things get tough, which let’s be honest, they will.
School – any type of school – is tough
and it will challenge you academically, personally, financially, and in other
ways too. Do not feel like you have to
be brave and handle everything by yourself, because there is always someone
you can turn to for help when things get difficult.
If I didn’t have the friends and
teachers I did when I was in sixth form, I don’t know how I would have handled
it all. Even if it meant dropping some people out of my life, ultimately it was
for the better because it was for my greater good and I am much better for it
now.
Make friends with people who will
push you to succeed, speak to
teachers who will help you achieve
your goals and know that you are worthy
of love and support.
On the other hand, make sure you are also being a support for other people! If you notice
someone struggling, reach out to them and offer any type of help that you can. From
the get-go, surround yourself with people who will only benefit and uplift you,
and distance yourself from people who do the opposite. Doing this earlier in
the year will make your future semesters much better.
So, that’s it!
I hope this post was useful for
anyone out there heading out to school in September, and if you already started
school, I hope you can find some value in the post nonetheless.
Having a successful academic year
is all about building good habits early on and preparing in advance, because as
the quote says, “Failure to prepare is
preparing to fail.”
I wish everyone a successful and
happy academic year, and that you achieve all that you set out to do!
