Are you stressed out because it’s your last year of college, and not sure if you’re in good standing? I’m going to lay out a precise checklist so that you can compare your progress and get a better understanding of your last year as an undergraduate student, so you can get that degree!
The first thing on the checklist is to review your DegreeWorks, or campus-provided way to see all of the classes you have taken, and classes that still need to be taken. Farmingdale makes this easy for its students by color-coding all past, in-progress, and not-yet-completed courses. When you review your standing, take notes on either a sheet of paper or designated notebook, and highlight which classes you still need. This will make your last year of undergrad less stressful and less questions you have to ask yourself.
The second task on this list is to eliminate any outside stress while focusing on your last year of college. It can be hard when you see all of your friends going out on a Friday night, and you need to stay in to work on that paper you’ve been putting off (we’re all guilty of it). It’s important to understand that the degree you’re working towards won’t always be there, but the Friday nights at the bar or at a friend’s house will happen often. A helpful tip for making sure you’re focused on your goal is to actually put your phone somewhere else you aren’t. If I need to get assignments done over the weekend, but I know my friends are all going out, I turn my phone off and keep it in my bedroom while I do my assignments in our living room. Prioritizing can be challenging, but keeping up the motivation to work hard is so much more important.
The third step is talking with an advisor within your area of study. Talking with another person can be extremely helpful. An advisor knows all of the tips and tricks that may help you figure out which classes best suit you, or which classes are only available in certain semesters, and so much more. Recently, I sat down with my advisor of the Business department and she was so helpful. She even reviewed my transcript before I went into my meeting, so that she had a jump-start idea of how to help me formulate my classes for next semester. We even discovered a problem together about two classes that we were able to catch early, and fix the problem during the same day. As a college student finishing their undergrad degree, you want as little conflict as possible, and an advisor’s job is to advise.
The fourth step of this checklist I created is taking time for yourself. We dedicate many hours to completing school work, that we deserve to take at least one hour or a half hour to ourselves. Spend the hour to reward yourself for all of the hard work you complete. Maybe you’ve wanted to exercise and release some stress, or maybe you wanted to get your nails done. Whatever it may be that you’ve been telling yourself you deserve to treat yourself to it.
Something that goes hand-in-hand with designating time for yourself is going to bed at a reasonable time. A good night’s sleep is so important. When you’re on-the-go and constantly working on the next thing that you’d like to complete, you don’t want your body to feel fatigued or lethargic. Your body and mind need to rest too. A good tip to stay focused throughout the day if you are feeling tired is to continually drink a good amount of water. Coffee is a trend and composed of so much caffeine. Yes, it will keep you energetic, but the energy will decline before you know it and you’ll crash. Adding lemon and lime to water can keep it even more refreshing, and gives it some flavor.
Most of these items on my checklist aren’t things that are easy. It took years for me to make sure I was getting enough sleep, drinking water, focusing on my assignments, and not becoming distracted. Good habits are worth it in the end, when you achieve your overall goal and find success from it. You’ll be thanking yourself on the day of graduation when you finally get to take that picture in your cap and gown! Don’t give up on the goal, you got this!