How to succeed in the first semester: Guide for the freshman Essay

Succeeding in a freshman’s first semester is a challenging task as it presents a whole new level of academic inquiry, excitement, adventures, and challenges. The independence acquired in college is never an assurance that it would be a smooth sailing. Rather, it would give the student a topsy-turvy ride and the first semester is a whole big loop that is with more twirls than the rest of the journey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are certain steps that a college student may take to ensure that the first semester will do well as this would determine how far a student could go in the next years and semesters to come. Though this would not bring magic but, at the very least, it would help in making the students see this experience as an exciting one.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   First, one should be able to discipline oneself with regard to matters relating to academics. The act of attending to classes is important and strict adherence to such would contribute towards academic achievement. One should look at the classes similar to that of a favorite television series. Once the student misses one episode, he/she misses out on the opportunity to learn what was taught in the class, is unable to participate in the class discussion, losses the opportunity to interact with his/her fellow students, and does not have the chance to earn points on pop quizzes and recitations. In addition to all these, there would be some difficulties following the next lecture especially if the past and present lectures are related. Second, be familiar with the rules and guidelines maintained by the university or the college. These are the things which would serve as the general guide of the student in surviving through college. It is important to familiarize oneself with these and ensure that it is fully understood. These rules are to be seen simply as recommendations made by the university as they would want their students to become the best they could ever be. These are not punitive or a prison that should be followed strictly. Rather, these are things that would make life easier and would maintain peace and order and understanding between the faculty, the students, and the staff. Third, know the right time to study and know when is the right time to reward the self for a job well done. It is helpful to have good study habits because the regularity of events would make learning easier and recall of ideas a lot faster. Being prepared for anything, even without any quizzes, exams, or graded recitations, would facilitate the discussion of the future lessons and would even be helpful for long exams as it has already been read. In doing so, one would only have to scan the required readings and lecture notes and would also have the time to relax and rest the mind a day before the examination. Just as much as you would work hard in studying, it should be the same for the reward for doing all the hard work. It would also serve as a good motivation when the mind and the body could not keep up with the difficulty of the task or when boredom hits. For a short-term reward, it would be good to reward the self with a movie and a sumptuous dinner after an examination that was passed with flying colors. On the other hand, a long-term reward would have to be an expensive item that one longs to have when a certain average is met. However, one should also remember the expenses needed for such and this is where discipline would come in again for saving money for the rewards. Lastly, meeting people and making good friends would make the experience a lot better. This is because of the fact that friends who go through practically the same subjects as you do would make the burden lighter by having someone understand you and would lend a helping hand a listening ear.