It’s the time of year again – spring semester is winding down, regular classes are finishing up, you’re beginning to plan when, where, and how long you’re going to study for finals and somewhere, beyond that academic haze, you can see the promise of summer break just along the horizon. Great! However, before you start cheering (don’t groan just yet, hear me out!), you would do well to ensure that you have a few things in order before you walk off campus. Here are six ideas to get you started:
1. Prepare and focus on doing well on your exams
2. Update your resume and make an appointment with your school’s career center to glance over it.
3. Start packing and making travel arrangements well before you are set to leave. I’m talking several days or in some cases, weeks (hey travel-abroad students!)
4. Collect letters of recommendations now.
5. Organize your school email and files.
6. Look at your schedule for next semester and see if there are any changes. IF there are, make an appointment to go speak to one of the following: the registrar, your advisor or the head of the department pertaining to the class you’ll be taking.
We’ve all been running around like headless chickens from classes to extra-curricular activities, from internships to jobs with little to no time for things such as sleeping, hanging out with friends or carving out a little “me” time. Nonetheless, I am still going to ask you to consider the above mentioned list – or even create one of your own – and look at is as way to make the transition back to school a little bit smoother.