The College Semester End Curse

By Samantha Weller on May 6, 2016

Each semester, it’s no joke that the motivation and effort college students put into school is like a skier going down a hill — the so-called “senioritis” seems to hit one too many people towards the end. Except for the skier, there would be a huge hill at the bottom, depicting final exams, that almost kills the skier from putting less effort in towards the end and oversimplifying getting to the bottom.

Whether or not we are prepared, finals always hit us as the wake-up call that we need to get back into the hardworking student zone one last time before we can actually relax, and phrases like “I’m so done with this semester,” and “I have no motivation to study,” have for too long been in the vernacular.

I have a theory that finals seem so hard to students, emphasizing the ‘so,’ because the weeks before them, students mainly have summer on their minds and think they have done enough work up to this point, that they can relax more than they should. Perhaps finals also keep us a bit more on our feet towards the end of the semester, but mostly seem to remind us how behind we are on really being experts in our class. Most people come to accept the prospect of putting less in towards the end as if it’s part of the average student lifestyle.

Instead of the skier going down a hill analogy, each student should spend their semesters taking advantage of every factor in them collectively, to grow as a student. College shouldn’t be about just doing the work you need to do; it should be about building yourself along the way, and really getting the most out of college.

However, studies show that the opposite is happening. A book called Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on Campus, has statistics that find 36 percent of students “did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning,” even after spending four years in college. This is due to very gradual and small improvements over the years in class, and in college in general. So what is at play here that obstructs student’s putting forth their full potential, and distinguishes their motivation?

How College Semesters Change Us As Workers

College semesters are like no other. Unlike high school, each half of the year has way more components to adjust to, and being on our own, ultimately takes more to configure. Each semester has different dynamics — new assignments, a variety of new people to work with, new opportunities, and from all that, a different motivation. I find each semester exciting, from a developing worker perspective; sometimes I have group projects, and other times, I have to find ways to work individually on more challenging tasks. In some classes I know people, while others where I don’t know anyone leave me an opportunity to meet and work alongside all new people; and the range of personalities that professors have help me find new ways to collaborate and communicate.

Although all the factors that tie into each year are useful ways to help us find new strategies and ways to be challenged, while helping us adjust to new work environments, it also trains us to work over short periods of time, and have our dedication fade quickly from the short timeframe of each semester.

We absolutely cannot afford to adjust to such a schedule, and one that we will never experience again after college, (unless you constantly want to switch jobs every six months). Semesters can be convenient, but convenient only in the sense that we are able to do a massive amount of work in a short period of time, and have large breaks in between each one. It would be more applicable to have the same classes and similar work throughout the year, but this is less practical for colleges and us.

How We Should Use Each Semester

It’s the harder, but much more beneficial, option to gradually building up our skills based on the new challenges and circumstances of that semester, rather than putting our full effort into the beginning in order to adjust to the new semester, and letting our motivation slide and fade as summer nears. This way, we will learn to make the most out of the workload, and instead of letting it wear us out over time, we learn how to do the workload even better. We’ll also be much more prepared for finals, rather than being in our overly-relaxed state, but best of all: we will learn to maximize our potential for many types of work.

In other words, we might feel worn out around the end of the semester, but if we’re not used to doing so much work without getting lazy after only a few months, as opposed to a full-time job from the beginning of a year to the end, how are we going to adjust to the real world? This is why students need to maximize their effort, and take note of what tasks they succeed most in, while recognizing their weaknesses from certain tasks. Our lives would be much easier throughout college, and in the real world, as the outcome.

Students can apply this strategy altogether or in parts. A student could work solely on either studying better, organizing, or fixing other weaknesses, and eventually be working on every element of alternate college personal growth, together. The elements range from everything to organizing ourselves better as people, to making better use of our time, to making a better effort, and even communicating better with classmates and professors. We’re learning to be a student in college, which will really further shape us into a potential employee, and it takes a lot more than just doing the work we’re given.

theodysseyonline.com

With a new approach to college, people might be coming out having more confidence in finding a job with better skills, and adapting to that set job. College would be easier for students, and it would make the time there that much more worthwhile since they would remember what they did and learn so much more than they intend, with certain extra skills we have to work ourselves to obtain in college.

We don’t want to leave college feeling like we only put our act together as much as we needed; we should be graduating feeling as if we’re 110 percent prepared and ready to tackle to the job we aim for. As well as this, we don’t want to spend all the money working harder than we might need to, when we can work differently while making much better use of the insane amount of money we’re investing into college. College is the best four years of our lives, having fun-wise, but does that necessarily mean it’s the best education-wise? It’s ultimately up to us to make the best of both worlds.

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