10 Things to Do Before a New Semester (COVID style!)

           With coronavirus impacting school this past semester, my list of 10 things you should do before starting a new semester will be a bit different than it otherwise would have been.

1. Check to see what policies from your school have changed or been added.

        Although this is definitely one that's on the list because of COVID-19, it's always worth a look every semester. It'll help you when housing contracts change, code of conducts add sections, or certain floors of buildings are now off-limits.

   2. Double check to ensure your classes did not get moved to new locations or online.

        I don't receive emails if my classes move online or change rooms unless the professor decides to let us know. I have to constantly check my schedule up until the class starts just to be safe. This spring, I had a class switch rooms (although it worked in my favor!) while I was in my class right before on the first day. It was not a good time to see that notification, that's for sure.

    3. Clean out your backpack, purse, gym bag, the list goes on.

        This one is likely self explanatory, but I'm going to include it anyway. You likely have all new classes (unless you're taking a series or in high school), so you probably won't need much of what was in your bag from last semester. It allows you to take stock of the school supplies you have versus what you need, as well as the chance to lighten the load on your back from taking out all the trash and unnecessary items. I also like to do the same to my purse and workout bags just to be certain I have all the trash removed, and in the case of my workout bags, all the proper equipment, as well as extra clothes.

    4. Clean your car and do any maintenance.

        Yet another self-explanatory thing to do, but having a clean car really does put me in a better mood. I feel more productive and put together when there's no more dog fur littering the backseat or my brothers' water bottles stuck under my seats. I live in the South, so I use this time to remove the layers of pollen that get stuck to the car exterior despite the fact that it rains basically every day in the summer AND most days in the winter.

        I also do car maintenance right before a new semester so I never have to worry about when the last oil change/tire rotation/tire replacement was. When your car runs smoothly, your life runs smoothly (or at least you're slightly less miserable).

    5. Check canvas for any syllabi or notices.

        This is the easiest way to see if you actually need the textbook or access code that's "required" for that gen-ed. I've never had a class that asked for the access code and didn't use it, however, I have friends at other schools who have been in that scenario. It also allows for the nice surprise of finding out that the class you're dreading won't meet the first week or that there's an extra credit opportunity every day for the class you HAVE to get an A in to save your GPA.

    6. Clean your room/dorm.

        Obviously, this applies more to winter break than summer break, but it's still a nice thing to do. For me, cleaning is extremely relaxing and helps to lower my anxiety, so I always try to purge and clean my room at home every semester break. (I clean my dorm before I leave for any break.)

    7. Buy your school supplies, textbooks, and any food you want for the first couple of weeks.

    8. Make a rough study plan.

        You may not follow this once you get started, but especially when you have other obligations on top of school work, it gives you a good idea of what times you DON'T have available to study or work on projects, which sometimes is more useful than knowing when you can.

    9. Check your scholarship requirements.

        Especially when on an academic scholarship, you should always, always, always check to make sure you're meeting the requirements every semester. For example, this semester I have to submit an extra form to keep my scholarship and extremely small loan, despite meeting the academic standards.

    10. Have fun!

        Seriously, enjoy the last bit of freedom you have before a new semester. The weekend before a semester starts, my friends and I always get together to cook and party. It's a good way to see the people you may not have seen for several weeks, as well as get some quality time with your friends before school. I study chemistry at an engineering school. Syllabus week doesn't exist- we hit the ground running- so it's a nice break from the books we're otherwise constantly staring at. Because we attend school in Alabama, we don't have a lot of social distancing restrictions, so it's looking like we'll be doing it again this fall.

Well, here you go! There's my list of the 10 things you should do before a new semester, COVID-19 style.

A Long-Awaited Update

Hey everyone,

I know it's been awhile. Between coronavirus and the craziness from that, there was also the potential of my parents moving. I've been juggling school, decluttering, packing, and making sure I'm set for the fall over these past 5 weeks.

General Declutter Update:

My parents brought in my stuff out of the storage unit and I managed to go from 5 containers down to 1. My mom has a good bit of stuff in a second. When things 

have been in storage for 10 years, at least most everything is either trash or donations. I did keep the craft supplies that work BEAUTIFULLY, almost all of the books, all the CDs, and my trophies. Unfortunately, as my school stuff got brought home, it went pretty much straight to storage, so I don't have a good metric for how much stuff I currently own. I'm hoping to reasonably get all of my non-school/clothing related items down to 3 containers of the same size. It might take until the end of the summer, if not winter break, but I'm very proud of the progress I've made.

As of writing this post, I'm on my 5th bag of donations and 2nd trash bag. It's very likely I'll be starting donation bag #6 within a couple of days. With how many times I've moved in the past 6 years, most of my accumulated stuff was not located in the house (and that which was in the house was seasonal, so that also got moved to storage).

College inspired a MAJOR downsize for me, but that did cause me to get more kitchen stuff, since I was on my own. Moving again from an on campus apartment to another off campus once I graduate won't make it any easier. I just don't want to pay for someone to have to move my stuff and, possibly even more important, I don't want to have to move stuff for no reason if I do it entirely on my own, like I do into and out of my dorms. 

I have a bit of an odd goal, but if my man can get everything he owns to fit in two footlockers, I can reasonably use 3 

containers, a suitcase, and whatever on earth my school stuff needs to fit in. (STEM has me needing lots of THICK notebooks and unfortunately large textbooks that I can't do without.)

 

5 moves in 6 years is a lot for the military, even more so for a civilian. That number doesn't even account for move in/move out of my dorm or from my temporary 

housing from last year's summer job. Seeing those numbers written down gives me a different perspective. Most people wind up collecting things over 5 years. It seems to me I'm always winding up with less every 5 years. I'm hesitant to call it minimalism- I'm anti consumerism, sure, and definitely think everything should have a purpose (which can and should include beauty)- but minimalism is often an extreme. True authentic minimalism is what I'm going for, but there are more than enough gatekeepers within the movement to make that feel unattainable. I want to be able to live simply, to not have to worry about the unavoidable expense of moving, and to not feel bound by things. By holding onto my why, I'm hoping that decluttering this time around will go much smoother. 

School Update:

At the time of writing this, I still have one final remaining, however, by the time this is uploaded, my finals should be complete. I've been online since before spring break, over 6 weeks by the time this goes live. Luckily for me, labs were already mostly finished, so I just had to wrap up the reports I was already due to write, as well as write an introduction and abstract for the incomplete lab. My other classes have been interesting, to say the least. 

Biology lecture was more or less the same, just a shorter time block on zoom. Recitation only met once, and it was just to go over the assignment we were given. 

Linear algebra was done really well, in my opinion. My professor would record lectures for the week and release them on Monday. Our homework would be due on Fridays, and our third exam had two attempts. Our final only had one, sadly, but she provided ample bonus. This class had the most flexibility out of all of them, and I'm hoping I can take this professor again for my statistics courses.

Organic chemistry is a 300 level, so I'm not expecting too much give, but it took awhile for my professor to get the hang of things. I couldn't watch her videos because at first, I didn't have wifi (I did my homework by hotspot), and I had family obligations. This class barely changed from on campus to online, which, for a class like that, does not bode well. Luckily, our tests are open resource, but I still was unable to finish one of them. Oh well, at least it's over.

Quantitative analysis was an extremely fun class taught by a lovely professor. She kept things engaging and fun, and even though I KILLED my grade in the electrochemistry sections, I have to say it might have been my favorite class. It was definitely my favorite lab. This was another class with lots of bonus points, which helped me because my grade was on the line between two letters. Both would continue me on the path to my ACS degree, but the higher letter helps my GPA much more. It's extremely math heavy, but I honestly enjoyed the class and would recommend anyone thinking about chemistry to take it. It's far more real-world applications than anything else you'll take in undergrad.

General Life Update:

It's been almost 6 months since I've been engaged, yet it also feels like an eternity. Due to coronavirus, any plans we thought we had were upended and we were back at square one. Engagement pictures had to be rescheduled. We still don't have a new date yet. It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out, but I'm really not appreciating the extra stress!