Hello, fellow pre-nursing and nursing students, CSU students, or anyone who happened to take an interest in this blog! 

To those of you who started back into a new school semester, I hope that your semester has started off well–that your assignments aren’t too overbearing, that your professors are agreeable, that you’re getting enough quality sleep, and that you’re able to set aside time for yourself. And to those of you who aren’t students, I hope that life is treating you well, that you’re getting good sleep also, and that you’re working hard but also taking time to self-indulge a bit. (Balance is key here!)

This semester is my second to last until I start nursing school, so mostly, I am finishing up prerequisites as well as courses for my psychology minor. Anatomy and Physiology I, Health Psychology, Counseling Psychology, online World Music, and Honors Global Perspectives: Indian Music make up the majority of my schedule, but I’m also tutoring again this semester. The studying is endless, the days long, and most of the time, my “free time” is to feed myself, shower, and prepare for bed. (Relatable?) Already, I can say for those of you at CSU, if you plan to take Health Psychology, prepare for lots of projects and research, for Counseling Psychology, lots of reading and studying, and for A&P I, frequent, repetitive studying.

Once I finish this semester, I will write a more thorough post on A&P I (with Dr. Holt), but for now, I will advise you to be prepared to spend a couple of hours each week reviewing your notes for both the lecture and the lab, even if you feel comfortable with the material. So far, I have been reviewing my lecture notes for about half an hour to an hour after each class, and I have been devoting one to two hours each weekend studying the lab we did that week as well as reviewing any previous ones. Why? This class starts off relatively easy, but I am aware that it picks up rapidly. The key here is to already get in the habit of repeatedly reading and memorizing your notes–old and new–for each upcoming quiz and exam. This reduces your studying load once the test comes since most of them cover multiple chapters. The bottom line here is that this is absolutely not a class that you can simply cram for; you need to spread out your studying over each week. 

Aside from classes, I have been squeezing in time to hang out with friends downtown (with studying), work out at the Rec Center and attend yoga classes, participate in volunteer events like Day of Service, and spend time with the turtles. So even if you’re also drowning in work from the semester, I urge you to schedule some time to relax or to even simply diversify your work! It’s important to take time away from working on just school assignments, to give your brain time to consolidate the information and to make room for more. And of course, we just need time away to keep from losing our sanity. 

So, no matter how your semester started out or how it’s going now, remember to prioritize your health. Try hitting the gym if you have an extra half-hour or more, doing something with a friend or close relative, or catching up on a Netflix series or a new book that you haven’t touched in months (just brush the dust off first). And at the end of the day, remind yourself of why you’re taking classes in the first place; find that drive that pushed you in college in the first place. Soon, you’ll reach your goals–maybe not now, but in time. For now, take it day-by-day and give yourself time when you need it.

Stay strong!

Nursing students unite!