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The End of an Unconventional Summer and Beginning of an Unconventional Year

Well this is it, the end of summer 2020. 

 

Summer 2020 will definitely go down in history as one of the most memorable summers for all of us. It was the first summer where we couldn’t meet up with friends, there were no concerts or BluesFest, and summer jobs were extra scarce. 

 

However, it was also a summer consisting of self-reflection and community togetherness. There’s something beautiful about sacrificing your own plans and time for others safety. I personally feel as though I have grown as a person and learned so much this summer, and that’s partially thanks to social distancing. Social distancing required everyone to stay in, self-reflect, and spend time with ourselves, which I found to be very refreshing; As the well-known quote goes, “Love yourself first, because that’s who you’ll be spending the rest of your life with.”

 

At this point, with only one week of summer left, a lot of professors are reaching out and explaining how Carleton University’s very first social distanced semester will be taught. This is a first for everyone, professors and students alike, so be sure to take it easy on yourself and your profs while we all try and navigate this new way of learning.

 

Online learning has its challenges and makes procrastination and falling behind in classes more likely. I’d be lying if I said I've never procrastinated until the day before a midterm in an online class and had to squish two weeks of lectures into one night. Having one or two online courses is completely different from having all your courses being taught remotely- this is where procrastination can become a slippery slope.

 

I came up with a few tips and tricks to keep in mind when beginning this online semester:


Study Tips for Online College Students

 


1.     Set up a study area.

 

Make sure you have a set study area where you can sit and watch all your lectures and take notes. I know it’s really tempting to just lie in bed and watch lectures- especially during those 8:30 a.m. livestreams. However, this is probably the least productive thing you could do as you’re going to be less likely to retain all the information from the lecture while lounging in bed (you'll most likely end up falling asleep- trust me, been there, done that 😬). 

 

2.     Look ahead to understand your assignment due dates.

 

It’s a good idea to look ahead at your scheduled assignments and take note of your due dates so that you can better craft a realistic plan for completing all of your work. I personally have a large white board calendar where I write down all my test dates and assignment and lab due dates on at the beginning of each month to ensure nothing falls through the cracks. When you have a full course load it’s crucial to stay on top of everything and stay organized.


3.     Communicate regularly in group projects.


Group projects already have their challenges, whether they're online or in person. From distributing a fair amount of work to each member, to clashing personalities, to disagreements, they can be very stressful. Online classes pose a new challenge as you most likely won’t be able to meet up with team members in person. Now, with everything being online the best way to be successful in group projects is constant communication. Make sure to set weekly meetings and hold people accountable for missing zoom calls. It’s also important for groups to divide up different tasks in an appropriate way so that everyone is responsible for their fair share, and so everyone understands exactly what they’re responsible for completing.

4.     Touch base with your professors often.

Just as it’s important for you to communicate with your groupmates and your classmates, it’s important that you also communicate with your professors or instructors. Make the effort to touch base with your professors, whether you have questions about an assignment or just want to let them know where you’re struggling. Profs know that this new way of distanced learning is difficult for everyone and are here to support you, as long as you reach out to them. They really just want to see us succeed for the most part.

 

That wraps up my small tid-bit of tips and tricks. I know we’re heading into a very unconventional year, but I also know that we will be successful as long as we support and lean on each other. We got this WISErs!!

 

As always, stay safe, stay inspired, and stay passionate!

-Zoya 

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