THREE KEY TO-DOS THIS WEEK FOR SUCCESS THIS TERM

This is the week most of you are starting winter term classes. Some of you are online, some in on-campus classes, and some in a hybrid mix. The rules and requirements are all over the map and subject to change.

Whatever your particular COVID-defined variables are, there are some commonalities across campuses and courses, some constants in what you can control for success this term. As always, time management, health management (physical, mental, and spiritual), and sound academic strategies are important to attend to the entire term.

But what about this first week? I’ve reviewed past student success, and for putting yourself ahead of the curve, there are three tasks that are better done this first week rather than later. Here they are:

• Read the syllabus. That sounds so obvious. Yet one professor printed in his syllabus the statement that the first student to use the key in the syllabus to unlock a locker he had rented would collect the $50 cash prize and congratulatory note that was in the locker.

At the end of the term, the prize was still in the locker. Nobody read the syllabus.

If you read the syllabus, you won’t pick up $50, but I can guarantee that you are more likely to pick up marks and grades with less wasted effort by reading the syllabus than by ignoring it.

• Exercise a growth mindset. As you read the syllabus, all of that material can seem pretty intense and may refer to matter you find challenging or have never heard of.

Take a breath–if you already knew the material, you wouldn’t need the course. You will chunk it into manageable bits, you have done this before, and you will do most or all of it by the end of the term, one chunk at a time.

After the first class where the instructor goes through the syllabus and details their expectations, set a goal for each course. If you are the type of student that elaborates and details your goal statements, go ahead and do that. But then boil the goal statement down into one single sentence. Make sure the goal is both realistic and challenging. Here’s a template with some examples:

“In CRSE331 I am going to get a B+.”

“In CRSE355 I am going to complete all assignments with a margin for contingencies.”

“In CRSE301 I am going to improve my grade over CRSE2011.”

As you go through the term, strategizing to achieve your goal statement will help you keep focused and get done what needs to get done. If your goal is not fully met, say you achieve a B instead of a B+, you will not have failed. You will likely have achieved a higher grade than if you had not set a realistic goal. And you will be close to achieving your bottom-line goal for the year–earning a respectable course average for the term.

• This first week, select your group members for any group projects. Schedule your first group meeting. Observe the students who have come prepared and show some engagement in the course. Approach them and invite them to form a group with you. If they are already in a group, move on to others.

As a significant part of your grade and what you get out of the course will depend on the efforts of others as well as your own. Selecting strong, well-motivated team members and getting started before midterms can be the difference between a C and an A. 

[It almost goes without saying by now to expect the unexpected and be prepared for sudden change. So I won’t say it.]

Regardless, these three key to-dos for the first week will help to see you through with a greater chance for success and less frustration:  Read the syllabus. Set goal statements. And get your group started. 

I can practically hear the groans and memories of past frustrating (near) disasters on that last one—group projects. I’ll address group projects next week—challenging, yes. Disasters—not necessarily.

In the meantime, keep me posted. I’m strategizing with students this week, focussing on realistic goal statements and ways to achieve those goals. If you’d like to discuss how we might do that, contact me at [email protected] .

The information in this blog cannot take the place of support from your own mental health professional or community health resources. Reach out to them. And IF YOU ARE IN CRISIS  PLEASE DIAL 911.