By: Nasreene Gant
OwlFeed Journalist

What if I told you there were 10 ways to make your freshman year easier? 

Being a freshman is new and exciting as well as overwhelming. You have to navigate through an entirely new place and find all your classes. Eventually, you get used to it but you’re still a bit new to everything. Even as a sophomore I’m still learning new ways to do things as a student to make my life easier.

• Stay Organized

As hard as it is being organized, it’s a good start. In this case, color coding is probably your best option as well as having a different folder or binder for each class. As long as you’re as organized as possible, you’ll be able to find everything for every class you have. Never get lazy when it comes to filing things away in your binder(s). (Admittedly this is still something that I tend to struggle with sometimes.) 

• Study for at least five minutes every night

Studying for five minutes before you go to sleep will help you retain the information that you learned. When the time comes and you forget to study for a test you’ll already have the information ingrained into your brain. 

• Participate in class

Sometimes it can be hard to focus and participate in class. There’s always something new to distract you, I should know. As tempting as being on your phone all period is, participating in class activities will actually help you in the long run. 

• Balance all your deadlines

I know it can be hard trying to balance six subjects and all that comes with it, but it’s an absolute must. Write down all your important assignments and when you have a test. Make sure that it’s set in place that’s noticeable so you won’t forget. If you can finish a homework assignment way before it’s done then you should absolutely do it. That gives some time to relax a bit and not worry about school for a minute.

• Organize study groups

Studying doesn’t always mean you have to sit in a corner alone reading flashcards, there are other ways. Getting together with a group of friends or classmates to swap notes and find a different way to remember pieces of information is always a fun way to study. 

• Don’t overdo it with supplies

Sadly teachers don’t email you a list of supplies that you’ll actually be using so you have to just wing it. Well, I’m here to say I winged it and I failed. I brought things to school in my freshman year that I didn’t even need and sadly no one told me until my second week of school. Not only that but I was also missing things. So only bring what you think is absolutely necessary, which means: one pencil, lined paper, four notebooks (if you need more, it’s probably because your teacher told you to get another notebook), two binders, dividers and maybe even an eraser. 

• Balance your friendships and your school work

Being a student should always come before being a friend. If anything you should always prioritize your work, but being a friend is also important so if you can multitask, you were blessed because I can’t. Although it’s hard, try to remember that the grades that you get in your first year of high school will affect you later. 

• Explore clubs and/or sports

As a sophomore, I realized that staying in the house all day and being on my phone is in no way fun. Joining a sport or club will help you branch out more. You also have the chance to get better grades because to join a sport you can’t have below a C or you’ll have mandatory tutoring and be suspended from all games until further notice. 

•  Pick out your outfit the night before

This is mostly for female readers. If you do your make-up this will help more than you think! Picking out an outfit the night before doesn’t just keep you organized, it helps you save time in the morning. If you tend to wake up early just to try on outfit after outfit and then have to do your makeup and hair, you know the struggle. 

• Setting alarms

Setting alarms will help you keep track of what you need to do. Perhaps you have an assignment you need to do but you also need to study. “Create a daily, weekly, or semester schedule outlining tasks to accomplish,” says an article from affrordaclecollege.com. Schedule the amount of time you need to use for studying. It’s imperative to make sure that you don’t procrastinate on anything that’s important. Forgetting things will only cause things to pile up on our workload and stress you out and stress isn’t good for your health.