Here we go!

We’re a week into B-term, leaves are leaving us behind and we’re all bracing ourselves for a cold winter. Nearly everyone I’ve spoken to complains about how B-term will be worse than A-term, and they’d be ecstatic if B-term ends up just as bad as A-term.

I can talk about expectations for hours, but that’d be hypocritical of me, because I know for a fact my B-term is going to be worse than my A-term. Don’t get me wrong A-term was tough, but I slept 8 hours a night, I quit coffee, and I took every weekend off, even the weekend before finals week. I ended up with excellent grades, did well in my jobs, and I even focused on my internship search. Most people hate C-term, and I do too, but to me B-term will always be worse, well until maybe this C-term.

For me B-term is worse because I get burned out during A-term and by B-term I just don’t care anymore. I also work through fall break so I don’t get to recover. So enough with the whining what am I going to do about it? Honestly I don’t really know. This blog post was supposed to come out last week but I still don’t really know what to do to make B-term Okay.

And that’s OKAY! We’re allowed to not be OKAY! SO I’m going to proudly state that I’m not really okay, things are tough and I’m still figuring it all out.

That doesn’t mean I’m giving up, I’m not saying “Oh I have so much work, let me sleep in today.” No, it just means that I’m going to have to work harder and make it work. We’re WPI students we make it work.

So what am I doing to make it work?

Here’s what I’m thinking:

1) Sleep 8 hours a night: if you sleep 8 hours a night you’ll be much more productive in the hours you’re awake than someone that sleep say 4 hours a night.

2) Manage my work schedule better. Fitting three jobs and multiple committees into your weekly schedule is hard, but it can be done.

3) Focus more on classes. Ever since I got to WPI classes haven’t been a priority for me. Yes I did all the work, and worked hard, but I was always more focused on everything else. Since I’m overloading this term I don’t have time to play catch up and I need to be on track with all my classes.

4) Go to the gym more. In a recent study from the University of Michigan, I think, they proved that students that worked out had a .3 Points higher in their GPA than students that don’t work out.

5) Go to Info Sessions. Info sessions are one the easiest ways to get a job. You meet employer in a small setting, you learn about the company they learn about you. It’s so much easier than going onto their website and applying, which you still might have to do, but meeting them in person and leaving an impression ill mean they’ll look out for you when you apply.

6) Go to more professor office hours and do H-W when it’s given instead of when it’s due. The best way to get an MQP or any project is to talk to the professor, and if they’ve never seen you before and you’ve taken three classes with them they probably won’t let you into one of their MQP’s. So even if you don’t have a lot of questions just go for a few minutes, trust me they’ll remember you.

7) Lastly, take some days off, and having a good time. If we’re not enjoying it it’s not worth it.

There’s also a cool website I was recently told about: MindSumo.com . It allows you to complete different tasks for employers, like creating an App or making a marketing plan for a new product. You get paid, and employers will see you in action and can possibly hire you if they like your work. Check it out, and let me know how it goes!

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Ahmad