As the spring semester quickly approaches, some students may be wondering, “How can I make my upcoming semester in College Park even better?” Being a second semester senior who is only taking classes part-time myself, I’ve put a lot of thought into this idea. Whether you will be taking a full load of classes or have all the time in the world, here are a few options that can make your spring semester NOT suck.
Get a job as a campus representative
These days, there are so many fun and resume-benefitting ways to get involved at your college campus. Campus representative positions are a prime example of that. According to the New York Times, about 10,000 American college students work on hundreds of campuses in these campus representative positions. What is a campus representative you might ask? They do just as the title describes: market a particular brand on their college campus. “Rep” positions are available for an assortment of brands such as American Eagle, HP and Intel, Monster Energy Drinks, and even Apple. Not only are these positions an awesome boost for your resume, but even better…sometimes you can get discounts on your favorite items just for being a rep. Whether you are interested in fashion, technology or just want something exciting to be involved in, campus representative positions are the perfect options.
Make movie night with your friends
If you find yourself not having too much work during the week, try and organize weekly movie nights with your friends. Especially if you find you haven’t seen many of the classic American movies, this can provide the perfect opportunity to see those films you probably should have seen years ago. If you’re not quite sure where to start, 100ThingsILearned.com provides the perfect list to guide you on what movies to watch. This is a fun and cheap way to get together at least once a week, sit down and spend some quality time with your friends.
Plan your workload during syllabus week
Like many students on the Maryland campus, you might be one of those who wait until the last minute to study for tests, finish projects or write papers. Make your semester suck a little less this spring by planning out when you are going to start each assignment or begin studying so you don’t fall behind. Buy a planner from the University Book Store or Book Exchange (or if you’re lucky they will be giving away free ones outside of the Book Exchange again) and write the due dates of each assignment in your calendar. Then, plan out how early you should start each assignment so you aren’t struggling at the last minute. You may not be so keen on the idea at first, but in the long run you will be patting yourself on the back when you are not as stressed and have more time to do the things you enjoy.
Whether it’s spending time with friends, getting a campus job or just planning your workload when it’s early enough to have time to think, these are a few ways to make your semester not suck this spring. The start of spring semester can be a difficult one especially with the procrastination that comes with the end of winter break so make sure to plan ahead, get involved and, most importantly, make time for fun. Good luck!