The last few weeks of each semester are incredibly stressful, but that rush of relief when you finish your last final feels so good! The end of final exams marks the beginning of your vacation from the stress, but there are a few more things you should do before you check-in to complete relaxation. Doing these simple things will set you up for success and even more relaxation in the future.
Clear out old class materials:
When you finish your last exam, it will be tempting to close your laptop and forget about responsibilities for the next month or so. In the future, you will be thankful if your workspace is ready for a new course load. This will look different for everyone, but it’s good to start recycling excess notes or clearing out your downloads folder on your devices. If you don’t, it could get clogged with a year’s worth of syllabi and worksheets, so it’s best to get this done while there’s still a bit of the fall semester motivation left in you!
Save Important Files to Your OneDrive
We recommend saving any essential files to your OneDrive. OneDrive allows you to access everything online, making it easy to grab and go from wherever you are. This will also clear up space on your computer for the next semester! Win-win.
Back Up Your Computer
We’re all told to back up our computers and phones and think, “Oh well, losing everything won’t happen to me!” Here is some advice: do it. Backing up your computer using an external hard drive (if you have one) will be a lifesaver. That way, if something does happen to your computer, you won’t lose everything that you have saved.
Compile Your Best Assignments
If you’re not in the habit of collecting your best essays or projects, you should be! Building your resume can be a daunting task but having all your best work compiled together and ready for you to pull from and show to potential employers makes the process much easier. Who wants to go through all their past files for assignments to find that one essay they remember doing well? Compile your work at the end of each semester to avoid the extra work of finding it.
Get your spring course schedule into Outlook Calendar:
As I’m sure we can all relate to, no one wants to think about school during the winter holiday. To help keep your future self at peace, go ahead and get your spring classes set up in Outlook. Color-coding different tasks is a great way to organize. Play around with the customization options in Outlook. You’ll find that adding Zoom links or classroom locations into the event description will make your next semester a breeze.
Get ready for the holidays on a budget:
If there’s one thing college students can all bond over, it’s the fact that we love to save money whenever we can. We’ve discovered that “Extreme Couponing” is a fantastic pastime for students on a budget. Couponing is especially handy with the holidays coming up, relieving some holiday financial stress that I’m sure you can relate to. Most major stores have their version of coupons available on their apps, making it easy to clip and save without worrying about tiny slips of paper or searching for deals in-store. It may seem mundane at first, but with more time freed up as finals drop off one-by-one, you’ll find that saving money while getting cute gifts for the fam can relieve some serious quarantine stress.
Take some time to yourself as classes end. You deserve it! Hopefully, these tips can help give structure to these last few weeks of 2020, so you can start the next year with an easy transition to the spring semester.
Contributions by Faith Francke, a senior majoring in photography, and Eva Nobles, a sophomore majoring in advertising. They are student employees in the IT Assistance Center.
