Transitioning from summer-mode back into attending classes and keeping up with course material and reading can be a big shift and might seen a bit daunting.
We asked our PMC Coordinators and Learning Strategists if they had any tips for students to get the term off to the right start – they had a few suggestions!
Request your accommodations early, when possible!
Fall term accommodations can be requested, via Ventus, starting on August 26th. Please be aware that notification emails to your professors, from Ventus, will be held in-queue until the term formally begins.
- For info about requesting accommodations using Ventus, visit our Requesting Academic Accommodations webpage.
Get Organized
When your professors make their syllabi available, go through them and highlight deadlines that you’ll need to remember.
- Once you’ve done this, add them to a calendar with reminders.
- Be realistic when creating your schedule. Make sure that it is sustainable for you, and allows for consistent routines around sleeping, eating and working.
Setting Up Your Work Space
Set up a space to work that can be kept free of clutter and distractions.
- Organize the material that you’ll need to work so that they can be taken out when you need them and put away (easily) when you’ve finished with them;
- when possible, go for minimalism.
- Plan to leave things like your phone away from your workspace if you know it will be distracting.
Make the Space Comfortable and Create a *Vibe*
You’ll be spending a fair bit of time in your workspace, so make sure that you have things like a comfy chair!
- Do you like plants? Add a plant!
- Do you like nice smells? Add a candle of humidifier!
- Natural lighting? Heck yes!
- If you prefer silence, make sure to have earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones on-hand;
Set that Space Aside for Studying/School Work Only
Set yourself up to mentally associate your work space with getting work done!
- Avoid things like watching Netflix in your workspace (if possible