Homework Hacks That Every Collegiette Needs

With club meetings, team practices, and hang outs with the cute boy from third floor – not to mention a serious addiction to Tumblr, Pinterest, and Netflix – who has time for homework? Before you become overwhelmed and frustrated with work, check out these simple homework tips that every collegiette should know:

• Document everything. It may seem obvious but we can all be forgetful and it’s a terrible feeling to arrive to class only to remember that you forgot to plan a presentation. Mark every assignment, due date, meeting, event, and obligation into a daily planner or put it into your phone in an app, like myHomework, so that you can prioritize your work and keep yourself organized.
• Become familiar with http://www.fairfield.edu/library. The library’s homepage has links to useful databases, research and writing assistance, answers to frequently asked questions, and even a quick way to seek help from a librarian. You can also reserve a group study room and check the library’s daily hours, which go until midnight on Sundays through Thursdays in case of a much needed late night study session.
• From the library’s home page, find and use the Research Tracker. It is a ten step online program that organizes a solid approach to a research paper, from starting research to creating outlines to the final review. The tracker suggests completion dates, which can be altered, and checks off each step as you complete it. It gives you advice and guidance along the way in addition to links to the library’s reliable and expansive databases categorized by subject.
• Utilize free, online help. Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org) is a free web program that offers video lessons in math, science, economics and finance, the humanities, art and music, computer science and programming, and even test preparation. Hippo Campus (http://www.hippocampus.org) is a similar program which has videos from college professors on subjects ranging from math and science to history and government to sociology and religion. The videos are absolute lifesavers and they provide another way to approach a confusing topic. For English help, I rely on the Purdue Online Writing Lab (http://www.owl.english.purdue.edu/owl). Not only does it offer information about the research and writing process in general but it includes specifics about grammar, rhetoric, punctuation, mechanics, and citations. Check out http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com for the full list of free virtual programs!
• Never underestimate apps. I cannot live without my dictionary.com app, thesaurus app, or iTranslate app which I use daily.
• Choose a more personal approach. Take advantage of the faculty and tutoring opportunities by heading to your teachers’ office hours, which can typically be found on any syllabus, or to the Writing Center in the lower level of the library. The Writing Center is open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM on Mondays through Thursdays and 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM on Sundays. Though you should understand that they won’t write your essays for you, you can make an appointment on the library’s homepage at any stage in the writing process. Bring a copy of your assignment, your syllabus, any relevant text, and any writing that you have done so far.

• collegiette