Picture this, it’s midterm week: sleep feels like a distant memory and your to-do list is as long as the line at Chick-fil-A on the first day of the fall semester. Balancing academics, a social life, and your sanity is not an easy feat.
Deidre Okeke, an epidemiology Ph.D. candidate at FIU’s Robert Stempel College of Public Health & Social Work, and Edward Alexander Bouchet Graduate Honor Society member, has narrowed down which strategies helped her to be successful throughout her years as a student.
Treat school as a job. Although this may be something you’ve heard from your parents or mentors throughout the years, this is a great way to help rewire your brain into understanding and acknowledging the importance of higher education.
Treating school as your job can help you align your priorities and encourage you to treat it with the same professionalism you might approach a job with. It will encourage you to show up on time, engage with professors respectfully, and promote a positive and productive learning environment for yourself and your peers. “You should have boundaries for yourself,” says Deidre. “Keep track of when you’re going to stop working, when you start, and when you’re going to have meetings.”
Cultivate a support group. A key part of surviving higher education is ensuring you have a support group to help you get through it. Whether celebrating with you during the good times or supporting you when things get difficult, Deidre says “your group is there to tell you that you can get through it.”
Curating a peer support group with others who have similar aspirations can also help keep you motivated and encouraged throughout your college career.
Be open to non-traditional forms of support. There are many resources available on campus for students in need of assistance. “Many students might not realize the various avenues available to them beyond their department professors,” says Deidre. There are many resources available to students on campus, a few of these include:
- Center for Excellence in Writing
- Wellness Center
- Health Services
- Tutoring Services
- Counseling & Psychological Services
Although these are only a few of the many tips that could be followed to be successful in higher education, these insights can allow students to equip themselves with the tools to thrive academically and personally.
Check out Deidre Okeke’s Reel where she shares her survival tips.
View more student resources on campus.