Alright, alright...you've had a few days to catch your breath, now get back to work! Your upcoming spring semester or second half of the year is fast approaching, and the best way to keep yourself from burning out during the semester is to do as much as you can to prepare now!
And, Christmas came late or early this year for you, depending on which one you're thinking of. I have made you a list of 8 tips that you would be wise to implement in lieu of sitting on the couch eating chips and binge watching the last 2 seasons of House of Cards to get ready for Season 3. Do 1 ep a night and take some time to save yourself from impending doom this semester. At the end of these tips, I've also included an image version for you to print out and put above your desk, to keep you motivated as the resuming of work fast approaches.
1) Brush up on Prereqs- If you have notes from any of the prerequisite courses, this is a great place to start. Make some cheat sheets covering the highlights of all these courses to pin above your desk. Chances are you'll be using these quite a bit!
2) Grab The Textbook Early- Usually the textbook doesn't change from semester to semester (or year to year). Having this early will give you the chance to get ahead while your classmates who are your competition are off doing other things. If you don't have the exact text grab a similar one as it will give you an added perspective and probably cover very similar topics.
3) Skim the Text- Since you aren't in the hot seat yet, don't kill yourself, but casually start to look over some of the topics, especially the first few chapters. These intro chapters usually provide the foundation for the entire course. Start getting this information into your subconscious.
4) Get Lost in The Topics You Like- If you find a topic or subtopic that particularly interests you, this is the time to really take a deep dive into that topic. When the course is in full gear, you're not going to have the time to take many deep dives, so try and savor some of the topics in your down time. This keeps you passionate about physics while at the same time is keeping you in the zone!
5) Try Some Problems- Now is the best time to muck around with some practice problems. There is absolutely no pressure, and there is no penalty for making mistakes! This is such a great tool because if you can only work a problem to a certain point, you will be able to ask about it when the semester starts. If it's a sample problem, it might even be covered in class so you will know exactly where to pay close attention.
6) Check Your Professor's Website for Resources- Chances are there is a website for older versions of this course that may still be available.
7) Make Friends- See what other classmates are doing to prepare for the upcoming semester! Start networking and see what anyone else has heard about past classes to stay on the cutting edge of what's coming up.
8) Start Building Momentum- A body in motion tends to stay in motion. If you hit the ground running you won't start out behind!
If you want a copy of the pdf, listen to the podcast for my e-mail given at the end of the episode! Alternatively, tweet me and we'll figure something out.
