By Mea Donnelly
Welcome back Illini, old and new to campus. This time of year is always exciting. A new school year means more time to make new memories, meet new people and just crush it in school. For some people, however, this initial rush of change is quickly overtaken by old habits. They say “old habits die hard,” but it doesn’t have to be the same this year. Here are my five tips to have the best year yet.
1.) Stay organized!
For most people, being organized is easy for the first week or so of school, and then they give up. Don’t be one of those people! Staying organized and on top of your work guarantees you will have less stress, won’t miss an assignment, and you’ll know in advance which nights will be busy.
2.) Exercise.
Exercise is proven to release endorphins in your brain, and endorphins equal happiness. This means the more you exercise, the happier you’ll be – even if you have three essays due in one week.
3.) Join new clubs.
If you put yourself out there and join a new club you never thought about before, you can meet a lot of awesome new people. Clubs are a great way to meet people with similar interests, and they add more structure to your day as well. This can help you stay on top of everything you need to do instead of going on a Netflix binge.
4.) Utilize office hours.
Office hours are a great way to really get to know your professors. It also lets them put a face to your name on the attendance sheet. Building a good rapport with your professors makes future applications easier and can also help if you need to earn some extra credit.
5.) Don’t text your old hookup (unless you really want to).
I get that this one is hard sometimes, but if you two didn’t really talk over the summer, it is a safe assumption that whatever it was, was actually just a hookup. Yes, an old hookup is comfortable, but talking to someone new brings a kind of excitement that you can’t get anywhere else. Now, if you are 1000% okay that it actually was just a hookup, then go ahead and text them. Just remember that meeting new people is always a good way to change things up.
So there you have it, Illini, my five ways to have the best year yet. Even if you don’t follow any of these, as long as you surround yourself with good people, this is bound to be your best school year ever.
________________________________________________
The Spread 