A few ways to stay healthy, stay organized and stay on schedule

From myself and all of us at the Observer, welcome back! I hope you had a restful and fun summer. For those who are just joining the Northern Essex community, Here’s a few ways you can own your first semester, and I hope this article can be useful to returning scholars as well.

Give yourself time. An oft repeated mantra is “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.” I have yet to find a situation as apt for this as a busy week mid-semester. Having twenty to thirty extra minutes in the morning to eat and get your things together can help the day begin without the headache.

For those who drive to campus, make sure to keep up with car maintenance. Few things can derail a day of classes as readily as a breakdown or similar holdup. While these sorts of things do happen, keeping a close eye on what needs to be done can minimize these distractions and keep you and your semester on a roll.

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As much as parents and professors will hammer this point, no one can emphasize the damage to your health waiting till the last moment will inflict as much as a fellow student who has routinely done themselves the disservice

– Brennan Cooney

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Stay on top of deadlines. As much as parents and professors will hammer this point, no one can emphasize the damage to your health waiting till the last moment will inflict as much as a fellow student who has routinely done themselves the disservice.

Keeping a schedule for class assignments will help prioritize and finish well in time to stay ahead, get enough rest and maybe even have time to socialize in between. I personally maintain two schedule books, one of which is class-only material, and one which is class and everything else. Having the classwork in a book all it’s own declutters the assignments, and establishing a list by priority is far easier.

Be conscious of what food and drink you consume. Like so many working and studying people, I adore coffee. Coffee helps start us up in the morning, and isn’t necessarily bad for you. But, too much coffee, especially without anything else, will likely end in a sore gut and throbbing temples. Yogurt, toast and one good-sized fruit along with coffee in the morning is a fine balance, and can go along way to take a person from only awake to alert, satisfied, energized, and ready to go.

Find ways to decompress. Like any well-oiled machine, the hard working student will build up pressure over time. From class to class, from assignment to assignment, even when everything is done on time and all is going well, still the pressure is there. It is essential to find two or three ways to let off this steam and come back to a more slow, calm state of mind.  Approaching difficult situations from a cool, and collected mindset is not only immensely beneficial to the student, but also shows others a well-composed individual who is capable of challenging themselves and living up to high expectations.

These are only a few methods I hope can help start the semester off at a good pace.