Whether you’re nervous, or excited, school is almost here and so are exams, waking up early, seeing friends and teachers everyday, extracurricular, and homework. After months of freedom and fun, a new school year approaching can be very overwhelming, especially since every school year usually gets more challenging than the one before. It’s important to have the right mentality to power through yet another school year, and set you up for success!
Go back to school shopping
I love back to school shopping, and if you don’t, I highly recommend you make your back to school shopping fun by buying things that get you excited for school. Personally, I enjoy it so much I even look forward to it every year. I get to buy all sorts of colorful pens, notebooks, and planners. It gets me excited to go to school just to use everything I bought and gives me motivation to study. Having fun when buying back to school essentials can change your mentality towards school and help you get rid of that dread.
Look through your books/syllabus
If you have access to your books, syllabus, or any sort of summary of the school work and lessons you’re going to go through during the school year, I strongly advise you to at least look through it, just to get a glimpse of what the school year is going to look like academically. This way, you can know what to expect and won’t be shocked with the workload when school actually starts.
Fix your sleep schedule
You know that thing your mom did a week before school where she would make you go to sleep early to “practice” sleeping up and waking up early for school? Turns out, it does work. I know your sleep schedules may have been a mess right now, and you may want to get a few last days of staying up, but you will regret it. Waking up and sleeping early at least a day or two before the school night is the way to guarantee you don’t go to school with 4 hours of sleep on the first day, feeling groggy and wishing you’d slept earlier.
Set goals
Setting goals for the new school year gives you a sense of direction, and gives you motivation to do better. Make sure your goal is measurable and outline a set of steps you have to take in order to reach it. For example, if you want to get an A in a certain class by the end of the semester, but you can set a goal to study that subject 4 hours a week. This is more effective and motivating that setting the goal of getting an A, without detailing how you’re actually gonna achieve the goal.
Relax!
And of course, don’t stress yourself out too soon thinking about school! Enjoy the rest of your summer, do the things you love, and spend time with the people you love before you’re sucked into the world of school. After all, that’s what summer break is for. Relaxing now can help you avoid burnout in the long run and be ready to put in energy and effort in the new school year.