Thanksgiving Troubles, Tips for Staying Locked-in During Break

Thanksgiving break is right around the corner, and it couldn’t be at a better time. It’s been over a month since our last break, and the weather is turning colder and colder. It's the perfect reason to get some time off, enjoy time with family, and not worry about your academics.

Unfortunately, as Robert Frost put it, “Nothing gold can stay,” and before you know it, we’ll be right into final exams and presentations, and the semester will be wrapped up.

The last day of class is December 5th, just five days after we return from break. Today, I hope to give you some tips and tricks to stay “locked in” over Thanksgiving Break and return to classes in the swing of things!

First, create a simple study routine and follow it. The break is over the course of nine days, which may be plenty of time to study. Yet, a few days may be devoted to traveling, or some leisure time with family, and you won’t want to study while celebrating Thanksgiving, and then Black Friday will be full of shopping. Now, all of a sudden, the break is over, and you haven’t gotten any studying in! 

Task yourself with a basic blueprint of how you may spend your break and look for times where you aren’t very busy. These slots don’t have to be the same times you study on campus.

Maybe you’re a night owl and crank out homework until the early morning hours. You could be the opposite and work best with a cup of coffee in the morning. Use the hours given to you wisely and spend a little time here and there to study or complete any final assignments.

The early afternoon hours at home may be a little different than those at school. No classes, no club meetings, no student involvement events; just time to yourself. Use these hours that could be spent mindlessly scrolling on your phone to just review a little bit of material for that exam you have coming up.

Next, you want to know when it is convenient to work and when it is not. Spending time at an airport during a layover? Maybe a good time to get some brief work completed. Trying to avoid that awkward conversation with your relative whom you don’t remember? It might also be a good time to review for that exam.

Driving yourself home on Friday night? Probably not the best idea to look over your discrete math homework. Regardless, there is time that may appear in your schedule that is a glaring chance to get some work done. When those times arise, take advantage of them.

Balance your time wisely. This is your time away from campus to reconnect with friends and family, pets and places, and enjoy your time. Nonetheless, try to find the time to get some work in so you don’t come back and feel swamped. Put future you ahead, and crack the books open (on occasion) over the break!