Preparing for a New Semester

Hey everyone! I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas break, but, with the start of a new year, it's time to reenter the world of classes, exams, and lots of homework. It's easy to want to spend these last few days of vacation scrolling through Facebook and Twitter or binging on Netflix, but it's important to get your ducks in a row for the start of a new semester. Here are some important steps to prepare for a new semester that are often forgotten.

1. Get your car a tune-up.
Especially for those students who live far from home, making sure your car is running well is so important. No one wants to end up stuck on the side of the road when driving home for a weekend visit or speeding home Monday morning to make it in time for that 2 p.m. test. Just do yourself a favor and get that blinking light on your dashboard checked now.

2. Find out what textbooks you need.
I know, I know, textbooks are expensive, and half the time the professor tells you on the first day of class that you don't need them. I'm not saying buy textbooks. Know which ones you need and start price comparing now so you don't get screwed by the university bookstore when you find out what books you do need. Chegg is a good rental textbook site, but nothing beats Amazon. I ordered and bought an 85 dollar textbook for FIVE dollars this semester. It just doesn't get better than that.

3. Clean your room.
If you come home for Christmas break, do not leave for college with your room a mess. You come home on the weekends to get away from stress, not add to it. Also, your parents don't appreciate it, and they feed you when you come home.

4. Clean out your bag and raid Staples.

 Your Starbucks receipts, old wrappers, pencil stubs, and old homework papers have no place in your backpack at the beginning of the semester. It's a small thing, but cleaning up puts you in a great mindset for a new semester. Also, go buy the supplies you need for the semester with the money you have leftover from Christmas. Pretty notebooks always help with the midsemester blues. 

5. Start praying for the semester.

This is the most important step to start off a new semester right. With God, every day is a clean slate and a new opportunity to follow Him. So pray that you follow Him each and every day of the new semester. With Him all things are possible- including passing all of your classes!