As the fall semester begins to intensify and the quantity of tests and assignments begins to increase, it is important to actively monitor study habits and decision making
Seniors at Texas A&M offer their advice they have gathered through their years of experience to freshman students as they prepare for their first few test weeks.
Environmental studies senior Sebastian Pereira said that one of the hardest transitions from college to high school was the increase in the level of academic difficulty and the issue of experiencing disappointment with grades.
“Often times in high school, things have kind of been easy for us and so we’ve been successful in many areas,” Pereira said. “But when you come to college and you start failing, you start to get demotivated. And you start to wonder if you’re even good enough or if you’re even college material.”
Although course difficulty plays a large role in academic achievement at any university, industrial distribution senior Otisha Byrd said she considers procrastination to be one of her most common struggles early on in her college career.
“I sometimes have this over estimation of my ability to cram information in the night before an exam,” Byrd said. “I think ‘Oh it’s only three chapters, I can handle this.’”
Manufacturing and mechanical engineering technology senior Cody Johnson said that procrastination played a role in some of his early class struggles and being a walk-on to the football team for the first three years of college took up a large portion of the academic week.
“Football took up most of my time and school was the side note and my grades started to fall,” Johnson said. “You have to find balance between school and whatever [organization] but make sure school comes first.”
Johnson said to take advantage of professors’ office hours when preparing for tests.
“Prepare as well as possible for tests and if you’re having trouble make attempts to meet and go over material with the professor,” Johnson said. “It’s saved me a few times from failing classes because [professors] see that you are trying.”
Byrd said she usually gets on top of her schedule before the semester really starts.
“If it’s a class that I know I’m going to struggle with,” Byrd said. “I go to the academic success center before the semester starts and create an academic plan so that I can be on top of the course.”
An important thing to keep in mind is that attending college has the purpose of getting an education and not just to join organizations.
“Don’t lose sight of why you’re here,” Byrd said. “While it is amazing to be involved in extracurricular activities, your primary goal is to seek a degree and a lot of times we get consumed in extracurricular activities that we let our grades slack and fall behind.”
To avoid pitfalls of procrastination and test anxiety, Pereira said it is best to ask for help.
“Get help if you’re struggling on something and even if you don’t understand something, don’t be afraid to ask questions, don’t be afraid to ask anyone in general,” Pereira said. “There’s certainly resources at Texas A&M, people who would be more than happy to help.”