Editorial - Organization key to success

It is hard to believe it has already been five weeks since the beginning of the fall semester.

For freshmen, the focus of this past month has been acclimating to the college life. For many, going off to college is their first taste of true independence, and with this newfound freedom comes new responsibility. From doing your own laundry to not having anyone to drag you out of bed in the mornings, this new lifestyle can take time to get used to.

For upperclassmen, these first few weeks are all about adjusting to harder courses and continuing to work toward the ultimate goal of earning a degree.

Regardless of which camp you fall into, after five weeks, the adjustment phase gives way to a more critical part of the semester.

With midterms right around the corner, make sure you are keeping up with your schoolwork.

This all-important part of the semester – which will hit you with a wave of exams, projects and midterm papers – can make or break your grade point average. Be sure to write down all the upcoming exam and due dates in one easily accessible place to ensure none of them sneak up on you.

It’s also crucial that you don’t procrastinate. It’s easy to ignore those upcoming exams and due dates until they are a couple of days away, but you’ll get overwhelmed eventually if you fall into this trap. As obvious and redundant as this advice may sound at this point, it’s probably the most important tip you can follow. Most students go through their entire college career without developing good organizational and study habits. This lack of skills will undoubtedly catch up to them during their post-graduation quest for a job.

As we go further into the semester, it also becomes easy to fall into the habit of skipping classes. Again, do this at your own peril.

By skipping class, you’re likely missing important material that will show up on your exams, possible extra credit opportunities and important information about changes to assignment or exam dates.

It’s been five weeks, but there are still more than ten to go.

Even if you have been procrastinating up until this point, there is still plenty of time to right the ship. If you have fallen behind in some of your classes, make sure you take the time to get caught up now, because once midterms start it will almost certainly be too late.