The Beaucoup section answer how they avoided becoming academic victims and stayed on top of all their school work. Below are their thoughts.
Kay Padilla
Allons Editor
I will be the first to admit that I am not always on top of my schoolwork. Currently, I am sitting on a mountain of schoolwork. But the way I combat that monster is by planning out my days in advance.
Whenever I have a lot of work to do, especially at the end of the semester I sacrifice my social life to do it. I can be found in the library until closing hours.
I need to be out of my sleeping space in order for me to do work. I can do work in my apartment but if I am in the library I don’t have many distractions. I take myself out of my comfort space to force myself to focus and drive myself to work harder and faster.
I also keep an updated Google Calendar that keeps me on schedule to get things done. I love turning my tasks green when they’re done. It’s like a reward.
Kayla Crane
Allons Writer
This semester I avoided being an academic victim by staying on top of my classwork and resisting the urge to skip class.
Since it’s my first year, I didn’t know how fast the spring semester would fly by. I got back in January, blinked and now it’s the end of the semester with finals quickly approaching.
A big reason why I was able to stay afloat is because I cut down my screen time on my phone.
In the first semester I found it hard to focus on work during my free time without getting distracted by my phone, so cutting my screen time down has helped me focus on the work I need to get done.
Overall, I had to realize that being an academic victim happens to the best of us but it’s not about the mistakes that are made, but the way I learn from them and make changes for the future.
Nyria Mustiful
Allons Writer
This semester was truly an eye opener for me. It was the first time I had taken six classes a semester and I now partially regret that choice. In my head last semester when scheduling, I thought, “Six classes won’t be so bad, it’s only one more than the five I’m taking now.” I was incredibly wrong.
I was also experiencing some changes with my mental health, so I was struggling balancing my school work and my personal problems as well. If I had to give a reason as to why I pulled through the semester, it would honestly be that I relied on my friends for their care and support. I have gained a solid support system/friend group over the past few months and any time I call or text them, they’re right there.
I truly believe that if I didn’t have my friends, I wouldn’t have made it through the semester.
Sarah Guidry
Managing Editor
The main way I avoided becoming an academic victim this year was by setting myself parameters. It usually meant I would tell myself that even when I felt like I couldn’t do anything, I’d tell myself to at least do one thing. Luckily this became a little trick to get my brain in the mood to work. Being a senior in animation, I was working on a year-long animation project, and with that on top of other classes and work, I was feeling burnt out many days.
I would sit down at night and tell myself that if I at least did 30 minutes of work that I could then do something I wanted like playing video games. Those initial 30 minutes would often turn into one hour, sometimes even multiple hours. On days where I was really exhausted from classes, those 30 minutes at least meant I did some work. It helped me feel more productive and less guilty to enjoy things I wanted to do.