Orgo, calc and a lot of matcha lattes

Boston, MA

Hi y'all! I hope final season is going well for everyone reading this. It's been a tough past couple of weeks and I know stress has been an all time high for students on campus. Everyone's head is stuck between books - or more like their iPads - and I've seen more starbucks cups than people. My favourite go to order before I get on the grind is an iced matcha latte and maybe a birthday cake pop. Yes it's basic but matcha can never do me wrong. Personally, I don't drink coffee so this is my alternative to caffeine.

This spring semester, there were only two finals I had to prepare for which were Organic Chemistry 1 and Calculus 1. Today, I finished one of the two and that being Orgo. I can't fully describe the huge relief I felt walking out of that exam. It was like a massive weight had been lifted off my shoulders and I could finally relax both figuratively and physically. Let me tell you, that classroom where I took my orgo final was one of the tightest and most humid rooms that I have ever been in. The seat desks were way to small and there was no space between each person. We were cramped together and breaking our backs to get those answers in.

But more importantly, I think it's safe to say I did it to the best of my abilities. I've been studying like crazy in the days leading up to now, and the final was way more manageable than I'd thought. I believe apart of this really came down to my studying habits. Fall 2021 was my first semester at college so there were a lot of things to adjust to. From moving to a new country and dealing with the culture shock, to being a college student, my life was quite jarring for a couple of months.

In a matter of a few weeks, I was no longer a highschool student. Covid had messed up my sense of time and my senior year flashed by as soon as it came. By the time I set foot onto campus, I quickly got caught up in the wave of things that I couldn't establish a proper routine. Admittedly, that was one of the reasons I didn't do that great in Chem (on top of unknowingly having Covid while taking my chem final)

So what changed?

“How did I improve my studying habits?"

Studying is different for everybody but I think the core aspect that ties it all together is time management and setting up a routine. Sure, cramming the day before, pulling all nighters, and working under pressure is something you can't always avoid, but I wouldn't suggest making that your usual. I, for one, am someone who can't handle huge waves of stress or I blank out and can't absorb anything. What I do instead is plan ahead. For Orgo, I made reminders on my phone of when the exams would be so it was never a surprise. After each day, I attempt to shove in at least 2 hours of review on what I learnt in class and relevant homework. Outside of the textbook, I watched a lot of supplementary youtube videos to further my understanding. Most importantly...PRACTICE! Practice, practice, practice - this is what's gonna really get it in your head. If you don't do a lot of problems, you won't know what relevant questions to ask.

“ What happens if I can't stay on schedule?”

It's okay if you're not able to stay ahead of the class. It's really tempting to compare yourself to your classmates and be like: " I'm so behind". Most of the time you're not. And if you do feel that you are, use it as a way to incentivise yourself to catch up. But at the same time, understand that you deserve breaks and cheat days. If you want to go to a coffee shop and relax for an hour insteading of doing work, that's perfectly fine. As long as you remember to still do the work, you'll be fine. No matter what field you're aiming towards, having a social life won't jeopardized it.

- Dieu Anh