1. Study, study, study: I've always been a real big studying nerd, but I think that my major issue with this first goal in previous semesters is that I am definitely, 100% one of those students who thinks that studying a day or two before an exam is going to cut it. It's not. It never does. And my first semester at a state university taught me this in the toughest way possible. So this is definitely goal number one because the key to getting good grades and understanding the material is to practice and study and go over lectures every day, as the semester goes on - don't torture yourself and commit to cramming and one nighters!!! Study daily!

2. Do not fall back into the habit of skipping class: I cannot even tell you how many classes I skipped this past semester. Coming from a small community college where professors took attendance extremely seriously to a giant state school with classes of over 200 students where the professors seriously could care less about whether or not your there can really mess you up! I skipped one class and it literally snowballed from there. I ended up skipping another, and then decided to skip lectures from other classes and by the end of the semester instead of looking for reasons to skip - I was looking for reasons to even go in the first place! Don't trap yourself into this!

3. Read ahead, but not too far ahead: I read so far ahead in all my classes that when I actually attended lectures I felt so bored because everything felt like a review. Read ahead so that you're not drowning in readings come exam weeks, but also don't read too far ahead that you're literally bored out of your mind come lecture time.

4. Ask for help: I have extremely bad anxiety in general, but when it comes to asking others for help I'm on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. I hate asking for help but I've learned, this past semester, that we all need it. Literally you can be in a class with complete brainiacs who are acing every test but the only reason they are acing these tests is because they. seek. help. They admit when they don't know what the heck is going on and they turn to others to help them.

5. Sit closer to the front of the lecture hall: Like I mentioned above, I have serious social anxiety. I am one of those kids who sits in the far back or in the outskirts of the classroom just so that I don't draw too much attention to myself or have to deal with awkward eye contact with the professor. But I also wear glasses and cannot live without subtitles (aka I am nearly deaf (not really, but really)) so sitting closer to the front where I can see and hear better is 100% necessary! (Also, studies show that students who sit closer to the front of the classroom get better grades and do better on exams. I'd source this information but #lazy).

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