New Semester Resolutions
Each new semester in college is like a new year…sure you might be taking the second semester of a course (i.e. General Chemistry A vs. General Chemistry B), but it’s still a new class with a new teacher and a lot of new faces, give or take some familiar ones. It’s important to treat each new semester like a fresh start. The previous semester you succeeded, failed, listened, learned, and grew…and it’s time to apply all of that fresh knowledge into making sure you can make the most of each new semester academically and socially. Here are my ~NEW SEMESTER RESOLUTIONS~ (remember, I’m abroad, so these might be a little different than if I were still in Nashville)
- Speak English as little as possible — How else am I supposed to learn French?
- Explore Aix-en-Provence every day — Learn new street names, find new fountains… (This is a great thing to keep in mind while on Vanderbilt’s campus too! Nashville is a glorious city full of excitement on every corner, in every park, and everywhere else).
- Find a good study spot — for me this may be a cafe with free Wifi or just some random place around town I can sit to read books, but there are definitely endless opportunities here and at Vanderbilt!
- Remember to take study breaks — In fact, it’s best to take a 10-15min study break every 50min-1hr so that your brain can pause for a bit before resuming any intense activity. This can make you more productive, and probably happier too!
- Meet new people as often as possible — After first semester freshman year, this gets harder and harder to do. It’s easy to get accustomed to the classmates and friends you’ve already met, but it’s great to make new friends and try out new things along the way!
I know that these seem super general and easy to do, but it’s good to keep them in mind along with more specific resolutions such as “do better in General Chemistry” or “stop sleeping in until 2pm on weekends.”
Where ever you are…abroad, at Vanderbilt, or elsewhere…GOOD LUCK for this next semester!