College is stressful. There is no doubt about it, especially in this time of online classes with a pandemic going around. I hear a lot of the term “sophomore slump” being thrown around here and there from my friends and peers, but I didn’t quite understand it or why it happens until this year.
I experienced this feeling of the sophomore slump at the beginning of this school year because in retrospect, a lot was going on and I felt like I just couldn’t keep up. My friends and I were unexpectedly kicked out of our house the same week that we had sorority recruitment, I had to find a place to live by myself for the first time, I found out I couldn’t take a little with the rest of my pledge class, and my friendships had a lot of pressure put on them after the housing got split up. I felt lost and didn’t even want to be at school anymore. I felt anxious and like I had no friends after my best friend had transferred, even though I was the one distancing myself. I noticed that many of my friends at other schools were feeling the same way. They were feeling lost and anxious all of the time but they had no idea why. I have now realized that this is what everyone was talking about. This is the sophomore slump. And even though we feel like we are experiencing it alone, we aren’t! Now, I think everyone is beginning to feel this sophomore slump, no matter what year they are because of COVID-19. Many of us have had to move back home when we were least expecting it and get used to this whole new routine of online school. We were all looking forward to finishing out the semester with our favorite people by our side, but now we can’t. This hits us so hard. This can cause us to feel alone while we have to socially distance ourselves and can cause us to feel anxious about our grades as we are getting used to a new form of curriculum. But what exactly are the true signs that we are experiencing the sophomore slump? Symptoms include:
The good news is, this slump doesn’t last forever and there are actually ways that we are able to pull ourselves out of it! It can be from something as simple as keeping a daily planner/journal to even going and talking to a therapist. Here are some of the things I have done and that my peers have dont to get out of their slumps! If you’re experiencing: a drop in grades Try: keeping a daily planner/journal A drop in grades can be really tough to deal with, but it’s never too late to try getting them up. Keeping a planner or a journal is a great way to keep all of your thoughts on track and keep you liable for your assignments because they are written down somewhere you can find them. Physically writing down what your assignments are also makes your brain remember them easier! With a daily planner or journal, you can also keep track of your mindset throughout the month with a “mood tracker.” A mood tracker can be helpful and let you know when you need to take a break and when you need to take time for yourself. Your mindset plays a major role in your grades. If you are feeling anxious or stressed all of the time, your grades are more likely to slip! If you haven’t read it yet, check out all of my tips for boosting your GPA here. If you're experiencing: lack of motivation Try: going for a walk or run Exercising is a great way to get your endorphins going. If you have noticed that you are lacking motivation lately, try and get yourself in the habit of getting out and going for a run or even just a walk. It is a great way to clear your mind and focus on taking care of yourself. Once you are done with your little workout, you’ll start to notice that you actually want to do more! I have a friend who was feeling unmotivated and she made it a habit to go to the gym every morning to start her day with a good headspace, which in return, helped boost her motivation! If you’re experiencing: a sudden urge to transfer Try: getting involved on campus If you haven’t rushed a sorority yet, or don’t think it’s your thing, you should still go for it! It’s never too late! Rushing is one of the easiest ways to get yourself more involved and create bonds with like-minded women! Not all sororities are the same which is why giving recruitment a chance is so worth it! Already in a sorority? Run for a position or keep your eye out throughout the semester for new positions that open up and apply for them! Honestly, this is one of the major things that pulled me out of my slump. I ran for everything I possibly could, and although I didn’t get any of those positions, I still felt better about putting myself out there and automatically felt more involved. If your school doesn’t have greek life, don’t fret! Join a club or find a place on campus where you can volunteer. Just making an effort to be on campus in general will allow you to feel more involved and at home! If you’re experiencing: anxiety and/or depression Try: finding something to distract your mind Like i said in my first tip, journaling is a great way to keep your mind on track and to get all of your thoughts out. If calling a loved one and talking to them about your day helps, then do that! Personally, my greatest distraction is keeping myself busy, which in all honesty is a big reason as to why I started this blog. I found that just my school work and my internship weren’t quite filling up the amount of time I would have preferred to keep my mind busy and stimulated, so I started a blog to try and help young women like myself! If simple distractions don’t work, speaking with a therapist could be very beneficial. I know many people who have both hated it and benefited from it, so it should never be ruled out until you try it! I know in the midst of all of the craziness that is going on in the world, it’s easy to lose track of what’s important - putting ourselves first. Mental health is so extremely important in college. We have surprises around every corner, and unfortunately right now that means cutting our semester short. However, we need to continue checking in with ourselves. What can we do that can allow us to avoid the sophomore slump. Take care of yourself! Draw a bath, slap on a face mask, and just go to town in your journal. You would be amazed at how much your mind will be cleared just after taking those 20 minutes to yourself! Stay healthy, stay happy, and never hesitate to reach out when you need to! xo, The Undergrad
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In college, boosting your GPA can feel impossible. In the spring semester of my freshman year, I failed my first class - a writing class I needed for my GenEds. I was absolutely devastated. I had been put on academic probation in my sorority, and was lectured by my parents that this couldn’t happen again. I felt so ashamed, not being able to participate in the activities I was looking forward to in the fall and felt like I had to make it up to my parents.
I was never the type of student to get straight A’s in high school. In fact, I had only received 2 A’s throughout my highschool career. I never thought I would have the ability to be a successful student until I hit rock bottom and had to teach myself how to be responsible with my studies. Luckily, you won’t have to hit rock bottom to achieve academic success. Whether you’re struggling to keep your grades up, or want to reach your full potential academically, these tricks are proven to work - I went from having a 1.9 GPA one semester to 3.6 the next! So, go ahead! Try these out: 1. Schedule your classes early in the day. I am NOT telling you to fill your schedule with 8AMs. However, I am telling you to train yourself to be a morning person! Scheduling your first class of the day to start between 9 and 11AM allows you to get the sleep you need, while also forcing yourself to get moving earlier than you would with an afternoon class. Studies have shown that people who start their days early have better attention, faster reaction times, and generally less sleepiness throughout the day than those who start their days later. You’re also more likely to be motivated to go to class when you begin in the morning rather than an afternoon class because it trains you to have a solid routine. When you schedule your classes in the afternoon, you can wake up at anytime throughout the morning and can take your time getting ready. In theory, this sounds like the collegiate dream, but it can have bad consequences. When you don’t have a solid morning routine, you are more likely to get distracted and forget about your class. How do you know I’m not just making this up? Because, it’s happened to me and many other people I know. Scheduling your classes early in the day will allow you to have the entire afternoon to wind down from the day and focus on your studying, while most likely still leaving time for your social life! 2. Write out your notes - seriously! Writing out your notes is a very effective way to retain information. If you prefer to type out your notes in class, you can still do that! However, once class is over and it's time to hit the books, take some time to go over the notes you took in class and rewrite them in any way you prefer! I personally love writing my notes out of my iPad Pro - it was the best investment I’ve ever made. There are lots of great apps out there that produce amazing hand-written notes and can actually make taking notes FUN. Here are some of my favorites: ★Notability $10 - available in the App Store This app is my personal favorite! It gives a ton of paper style options, but I tend to lean towards writing on the grid format.
★GoodNotes
$8 - available in the App Store I have heard nothing but great things about GoodNotes! You can easily create subjects and stay organized. If you love bullet journaling, this is the app for you.
I also have friends who have had lots of success retaining information by writing their notes in journals, but many people also just go with the classic spiral notebook. Find whatever works best for you and run with it! Writing notes doesn’t have to be a dreadful task. Make your notes as simple or as fun as you want! One note-taking trick that I have found the most useful is color-coding everything. When you go back to study your notes, you will find it much easier to focus on the material you need to remember and all of the lecture “fluff” will be filtered out!
All of my favorites for paper note-taking: ★For the ones who want to keep it classic Cambridge Notebook, 9"x11" $14.89 on Amazon
★For the ones who live by journaling
Lemome Eco Cork Notebook $12.99 on Amazon
★For the ones who love sustainability
Rocketbook Reusable Notebook $29.79 on Amazon
3. Use an academic planner to your advantage.
Writing everything that’s on your schedule may seem like a lot of unnecessary work, but it really does make a difference with your time management! Taking a few minutes in the morning to write out what you have planned for the day can not only help you to start your day off on the right foot, but it can also help you plan out when you are going to be able to work on your assignments in a timely manner and make time for yourself! Taking a few seconds after class to jot down what the homework for the night is goes a long way because, like writing out your notes, writing down what you have due helps you remember that assignment. We live in an age where we rely on technology to remind us about everything, but being good about taking note of what needs to get done allows you to be accountable for yourself! Some planners that I swear by: ★Erin Condren Personalized LifePlanner $55.00 on ErinCondren.com
★Indeme 2020 Planner
$29.99 on Amazon
★Papier 2020 Planner
$21.69 on Papier.com 4. Quizlet is your new best friend. If you aren't familiar with Quizlet, it is a godsend. I cannot stress the importance of it enough. Quizlet can be one of those study tools that you need to know how to use correctly to use successfully, but it isn't that difficult. You can use it from your desktop or from the app, I personally use both. Study sets are super simple to make. When you are making your study sets, rather than putting in one term and a definition as it suggests, make your term a sample test question! This simple trick can make your tests seem easy because you are being asked similar questions that you created, questions that YOU know the answers to! For example: Rather than just doing this - Term: Brand Extension | Definition: Taking an established brand and using it to sell different products Try this - Term: What is Brand Extension? | Definition: Taking an established brand and using it to sell different products You can also use Quizlet effectively by searching for study sets that have already been created for the class you are studying for. In the search bar, you can put in the class name (i.e., COMM 3690), and sets for your specific class are bound to come up. To narrow your search to make sure that you are getting the correct class, you can even search for your university! You can create a "class set" that has you specify your class and school, so it is a great way to stay organized and be able to find what you are looking for fast! 5.Make sure you take time for yourself. Rest and relaxation are some of the best ways to recover from a long day. It keeps you from draining yourself out and can even prevent you from getting sick! The most important rule of thumb with rest and relaxation is to not overdo it. If you are constantly telling yourself that you need a break and that you need to rest, you can drag yourself into the deep hole of procrastination and you will begin to lack motivation. This is what you want to prevent. Taking care of yourself in simple ways can go a long way for both your physical and mental health. As long as you take about an hour out of your day to tend to your needs, you can stay healthy! Time for yourself can be whatever you want it to be! Whether it’s a short workout, taking a walk, meditating, or even taking a nap, your body will thank you for the healthy attention you're giving it. A few changes I have made in my personal life are: ★drinking a cup of tea before bed This helps me wind down from the day and puts me in a good mindset before I turn in for the night! I love the Tazo 'Zen' tea, as well as their 'Matcha Mate Grapefruit'! $7.99 for a 24-pack on Amazon
★throw on a face mask when I'm feeling stressed
Face masks are my favorite way to de-stress. Skincare is extremely important to me, so have plenty of recommendations, but my favorite has to be the Foreclay Cactus Clay Face Mask by Freck Beauty! $22.00 at Urban Outfitters
★if my body is telling me I need a nap, I take a nap
There is something so therapeutic about taking a nap. When I have a busy day and need a nap, I set a 20 minute timer on my phone and get up and go back to what I was doing as soon as the alarm goes off. I only nap for 20 minutes because studies show that 20 minutes is the perfect amount of time for a nap to get you up and active again. However, if I am having a slower day, I allow myself to nap for as long as I need to, as long as it is before 6PM. Some may say that taking some naps that are timed and some naps that aren't is inconsistent, but I call it balance. The days that I nap for as long as my body needs makes up for those days where I only take a 20 minute nap, or even no naps at all! Find the balance that your body needs! To wrap things up... Don't be fooled. These tips can take some time to get used to. When you decide to start implementing these tips into your daily life, I personally think that it's best to begin will one thing at a time. Once you start with one thing, the rest will eventually come naturally to you and everything will fall into place! I would love to hear YOUR tips and tricks to maintaining your GPA, so don't be shy and comment or shoot me a message! If you have anyone struggling in school, I encourage you to share these tips with them and to continue to encourage them in their time of need! xo, The Undergrad |
AUTHORCamille Baron is a 20 year old attending the University of Utah and is in her third year as a Strategic Communications major. She strives to educate college women like herself to achieve their full potential in all aspects of life. ARCHIVES
July 2020
CATEGORIESAll Business And Professional College Culture Education Health And Wellness Self Care Travel |