7 Tips for the College Season
Emily: The sky is blue.
Me: Emily, I totally agree with what you said. I like how you used the color blue as a form of imagery to describe the sky! That was such a powerful statement you said Emily.
I think all students everywhere have either seen or written discussion posts like the one above. We’ve all had to do a lot of adjusting in the way that we do school since the pandemic.
From 2017-2019 I took my classes online since I lived 538 miles from campus. I eventually moved to campus and ironically worked for the Distance Learning office where my job centered around online classes. I want to give you a consolidation of tips originating from my office and also my personal experience as a student. Seven tips to help you better steward your life, time, and school whether online or in person.
Body & soul
You might be thinking that this is a strange place to begin. But understanding the body and soul are vastly important to doing school and life well. As humans, we are made of both a body and a soul– we are physical and spiritual beings (Gen. 2:7).
God breathed an inner life (soul) into a body (physical) which he fashioned from the ground. It’s easy to divorce these two (soul & body) in our minds. However, the soul and body are connected more than we often think. The diagram below might help better portray how this plays out.
Arrow 1 shows how poor physical care– sleep, diet, exercise, and sunlight– affect the soul by giving rise to depression. Contrarily, arrow 2 shows how anxiety of the soul manifests itself physically through energy level deficiencies, panic attacks, sweating, etc.
So my first tip is pretty straight-forward, but the most important…
#1. Take care of your body & soul
“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God…Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.”
Psalm 42:1-2, 11
Each person on earth has a relationship to God. The question remains: what is it like?
The Bible tells us that we are born enemies of God, but that we can be reconciled back to him through faith in his Son Jesus (Romans 5:10).
To best care for the soul is to know God as Father. It’s to get in on his love by putting our life’s trust in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In doing this, we receive his Spirit who helps us turn from evil and towards Christ who is good. Our thoughts, actions, and motives all reflect whether we know not just any god, but this God personally.
Our relationship with this God directly affects the way we set life goals, do school, treat our friends, think about ourselves, respond to crises, make decisions, and ultimately determines our eternal home. We best care for our souls by entrusting it to its Maker. We also care for our soul by caring for our body.
What does it mean to care for your body?
If caring for the soul includes caring for the body, then caring for the body must also include caring for the soul.
I can’t expect my body (including my brain) to function at its best when I’m on a Cookout diet. My body needs legitimate nutrients, vitamins, and energy to function well. So as humans, we have to treat our bodies well by consuming good foods and supplements. To start, I would recommend taking adult vitamins (gummies obviously because who doesn’t like those) and Omega 3 (fish oil) which keeps the mind sharp. These can be taken in liquid or pill form.
Our diet affects the way we feel and operate. It can also be a stumbling block to spiritual and physical growth. Along with diet, exercise is a must. It doesn’t mean we have to sign up for a monthly membership at a crossfit gym. It just means we need to be intentional about getting some sort of exercise multiple times a week: walking, running, playing sports, etc. The goal is that we would love our bodies like we love God.
#2. Learn how you learn
I am a visual learner. This means that in order for me to really comprehend what my professors are saying, most of the time I have to listen with my ears and my eyes. I need to focus on my professor. I need to look at his/her powerpoint slides (as boring as it may sound).
What type of learner are you? You may be an audible learner (ie: someone who can listen to lectures in the car and have no problem paying attention and learning). You may be more of a hands-on learner (ie: someone who needs to physically demonstrate or practice in order to learn).
When you know how you learn, you can adapt your work habits around that style. As I said before, audible learners can utilize the time they have in the car to knock out some lectures. Hands-on or practical learners may want to create or join a community of learning which centers on more discussion and practice. Visual learners will most definitely need a white board, notecards, and other creative solutions.
One additional facet of learning has to do with organization. You may want to ask yourself this question: Do I thrive in structure or in flexibility?
Answering this question will help you think through several of the other tips which pertain to time management.
#3. Schedule your work & guard your space
Schedule time to work and not to work. Whether you are a person who thrives in structure or not, it’s always beneficial to schedule to some extent. For some, scheduling will be more specific, for others it will be more broad.
Here are a few questions to ask yourself when trying to schedule school work:
How fast do I learn, read, write papers?
What amount of time do I need to do specific assignments?
Many of us don’t actually schedule time to do things that we are interested in outside of academia. This is a recipe for a meltdown (I’ve experienced many).
The goal isn’t to be robotic and live in monotony. The goal is to establish rhythms which produce fruit. Scheduling time to do your work and not to do your work will help you get there.
#4. Identify the most fruitful time of the day
This pertains to school work AND to daily time with the Lord. Ask yourself these 3 questions:
When are you less distracted? Phone & friends— when are you not being blown up?
Where are you less distracted? Find places you can mark as your study spots.
When do you function best? Mornings, afternoons, nights. When are you more alert & focused?
#5. Do less exciting work first
Have you ever had to push through something that you really just didn’t want to do? Well that thing is even worse when your body is fatigued. It’s best to just knock out the least interesting tasks first while you have the energy and brain power. It’s easier to find energy for the things you enjoy!
#6. Take regular breaks
This tip is pretty self explanatory, however, it’s not that easy to carry out. Most times “keeping your focus” is actually counter-intuitive if you’re focusing too long. Brain and body fatigue are real. So after about an hour or so, take a stroll outside. Grab a snack and something to drink. Take a short break so that you can return a little more energized and focused.
#7. Invite the Lord into your school work.
Before you question my theology, let me explain. This does not mean that God is not already involved nor does it mean that he needs permission to be. Rather, the act of inviting God expresses dependence upon him for all things (including school). Prayer is not a formula for academic success. This rings especially true with what I called the “test prayer.” We’ve all done it.
“God, you know I didn’t study last night. I need an “A” on this test to pass the class. Please help me. Amen.” 99.9% of us didn’t get an “A” on that test. Not because God was absent, but because God is not a genie. And we didn’t study.
Instead of seeking God 30 seconds before the test, seek God in your studies as you study. Even the way we do school is correlated with spiritual growth. The more we mature, the more we see God in all facets of life.