A Freshman College Student's Top 5 New Years Resolutions

This previous fall I started the long journey of college. I have had some struggles and with the New Year and the new semester starting at the same time I figured I would think of five ways that I can improve myself as a student.

1. Study More - Of course any student will say this, but actually doing it will be the challenge. I fell that in some subjects if I would have just applied myself more I would have done a lot better. So in order to make sure I study more, I am going to keep a day planner and set aside one hour every day just for studying.

2. Get More Involved - Due to gas prices at the start of the semester I only took one class on campus and the rest online. I feel that I am missing out on the college experience because I hardly got any interaction with other students. Next semester I plan on taking more classes on campus, joining a study group, and maybe playing a sport or joining a club.

3. Work Less - This one is a little more difficult because of the current economic situation. But I have noticed that when I work more hours my school work suffers. I have decided to try some alterative ways of making money such as selling items I no longer need or use on eBay, writing articles for associated content, writing my blog cookingwithkatiecoffey.blogspot.com, and cutting back on my expenses. Ways that I could cut back on my expenses are to check my car insurance rate to make sure I am getting the best deal, evaluate my cell phone usage and pick a plan better suited to my needs. I can also cut back on other unnecessary cost such as eating out and luxury items.

4. Spend More Time with Family - Since I've started school I feel like I am always busy between work and getting school work done. Even though I am completing my school work at home and can be around my family I am not getting quality time with them. I would like to set aside my Sundays for what god intended them for, a day of rest. I would like to spend Sundays with my family and not do anything involving work or school. I would like for it to be the day that I ignore my cell phone and just enjoy myself. I might be unrealistic with this but I would at least like to set aside most of my Sundays.

5. Procrastinate less - With my classes being online my deadlines are often at either eleven or twelve at night. It can be very tempting to wait until the last minute to turn assignments in. And it can be even more tempting to wait until the last minute to complete them, but I learned quickly many other students do this and this often results in the server getting overloaded and then it stops working. This results in a late assignment. In one class even if it is a minute late I loose 20%. So by turning it in early I no longer have to worry about if the server will be running.