TACTICS FOR THE FIRST WEEKS
Depending on which campus or school you’re in, you’ve either finished or just started your first week of class. This week I’m addressing tactics that can get you started and keep you ahead of the game with comparatively little effort.
Go to class.
You don’t want to miss the extra tips, extra explanations about what is required for an assignment, what is most likely to be on exams and other tips. You’re paying big bucks. You don’t want to leave money or marks on the table.
Do the prep.
Do as much of the prep as you can before class or lab. If you can’t read every chapter for every class in every course, a skim is better than not cracking the text or website.
Get to know your resources.
Check out what’s available for student academic support. Even if you may not use all (or any) of them, it’s better to know about what expertise is available to you at the libraries; at student academic workshops and individual coaching on exam technique, research, academic writing, and study techniques; at counselling and student health for group and individual support for physical, mental and health; for gender identification support; for your specific program (e.g., Moot Court, Career Coaching at Haskayne), . . . the list goes on. And includes individual academic strategists (that would be me).
Better to know about resources you won’t use than to later say, “Gee, I wish I’d known about that!”
Get to know your professors, TAs, and instructors.
Check out their bios and CVs on the campus website. Check out their publications. Google stalk without being a creep. Check them out on LinkedIn. Know their office hours. During the term, take them up on invites to attend group or drop-in sessions, for which you may do some prep.
Check them out on ratemyprofessors.com
Read the syllabus for each course.
The syllabus is where you learn exactly what is required for each assignment, for use of AI, for grading criteria, what happens to assignments handed in late, et cetera. “Et cetera” can even include font and margins and other trivia.
The syllabus is your contract with the school and the instructor. If you don’t read it and miss a picky requirement, you’ve left money and marks on the table.
Map out your courses for the term.
You know enough after the first week to mark the deadlines for assignments and exams on your calendar. Allow study and prep time so that you aren’t doing the final draft of a paper worth 40% the night before a challenging STEM exam.
Prepare for any swap or drop decisions.
The deadline for swapping or dropping courses without penalty and added costs is soon. Make sure you know that deadline and are gathering enough information to make your decisions.
Recruit good group.
By the end of the first week, you will likely be able to know who comes to class prepared, who asks insightful questions, who seems to be the kind of person you’d do good work with. Approach them to team with you for any group projects.
Pause and reflect. And plan.
Whether you’re frosh or in your graduating year, after the first week of class, reflect on how your courses look as you’re getting a feel for them. Especially if you’re frosh, get a feel for how postsecondary is different from high school and how it is different from what you expected.
Reflect on what you might be looking forward to in each class. Reflect on what you might fear in each class. Identify the potential for you to shine as well as the potential challenges. For the potential challenges, map the resources you might access (see the second point above) if the need arises.
That’s it! Congratulate yourself!
You’ve got the year rolling. You’re likely ahead of the game in some aspects, and behind in others. Pretty normal!
Congratulate yourself with a pat on the shoulder for what you have done, and for noting what you need to catch up on. Schedule the catch-up, and congratulate yourself for scheduling it.
You’ll notice there’s no room here on this page for nagging yourself. There’s a reason for that, and you don’t have to be a psychology major to understand why–I’ll leave that to you as I will bet you know the answer!
Final step:
Connect with me if you’d like to explore how we might work together setting up for your academic success. [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.