With summer semester underway, some students may find it harder to focus, due to the warm weather and smaller class sizes. To help, the Clarion spoke with Sinclair Community College counselors for tips on keeping your eye on the prize and surviving summer semester.
“Keep the goal in sight — finishing your degree, getting your education,” Sinclair Counselor Brenda Smith said. “Knowing that your hard work today pays off tomorrow.”
Counselor Gwen Helton said it’s important to remind yourself of the positive reasons as to why you’re taking summer classes, such as finishing early, completing prerequisite courses or spreading out your workload.
“If they can keep that reason in mind, it may help them to stay motivated,” Helton said.
Eric Henderson, counselor, said summer classes can be accelerated, so missing a class could put a student behind in the course.
“I think having the right frame of mind is very important, because one of the things I would ask someone is if they see all these people out having fun and you’re stuck in the classroom, are you going to be able to stick with it?” he said. “So having a good balance of knowing your strengths and weaknesses when it comes to that, and also utilizing good time management skills, is key.”
Helton said it’s important to reward yourself along the way, such as planning a vacation or scheduling leisure activities on days off.
“We’re fine if you work hard, but we want you to play too,” Helton said. “We want you to have a break, even if you have to schedule it and force yourself to do it, it’s healthy to balance that out.”
Helton said not to forget about self-care, especially with faster-paced classes, such as having healthy sleep patterns, having good nutrition, keeping hydrated, exercising scheduling and leisure time.
“Whatever they need to do to take care of themselves and get that break,” she said. “They’ll be more effective and efficient in the long run.”
Smith said the weather may create temptation and can cause a student not to do as well as they would during another semester, so she suggested studying outdoors in the shade, instead of indoors. “I think a lot of people are accustom to, summer equals freedom — because that’s what we grew up with… It comes back to that mindset; what’s my goal in doing this, can I do this, is my head in the right place to be able to turn down invitations to hangout at the pool or whatever because I have to study for a test and things like that,” Henderson said.
If needed, student support services are still open during the summer. Helton said it’s important to take advantage of your resources.
“Keep your goals in mind,” Smith said.