School Supplies for Success

Among all the excitement of back to school events it’s easy to forget the main purpose for being a college student: academics. As you save money and build your wardrobe with all those free t-shirts during K-Week, don’t forget to make a stop at the bookstore and pick up a few school supplies. You don’t want to be the kid who has to ask a classmate to borrow a pencil and paper on the first day, instead be prepared to start the semester off right. Every student has a different approach to organization when it comes to school supplies, but The Study is going to share with you some of the tips and tricks we’ve learned over the years. 

The number one school supply must-have should come as no surprise, considering you have probably been encouraged to get one every year since elementary school. Yes, an academic planner. In order to manage your time wisely and keep track of assignments it is a necessity. However, in college we also recommend pairing your planner with a wall calendar. For one, it’s a lot more difficult to lose than your planner. Also, it can serve as a constant visual reminder of what big tasks are coming up. You may not remember to check your planner and see what’s coming up next week, but it is a lot harder to ignore the calendar hanging in your dorm room. 

After investing in a planner and wall calendar, you’ll always be aware of your upcoming exams. This means you will have plenty of time to establish a study routine and not wait until the last minute to cram. Several school supplies can help with this strategy, but one of the best is a whiteboard. Yes, they are useful for something other than decorating your dorm room door. From studying vocabulary to math problems, whiteboards are great for studying when repetition is key. 

After you ace that exam, you probably don’t want to haul all of the worksheets and handouts that are no longer pertinent to the day-to-day classroom activities, but that material will more than likely pop up on the final exam. This means you need to create a system for filing papers that you don’t need immediate access to, but that you will want to reference in the future. One option is to use a file folder for each class and storing them in a desktop file folder box. They come in countless patterns and colors which will serve double duty as it brightens up your work space.

 

It’s a lot easier to stay organized if you start that way on the first day of classes rather than trying to piece together a plan halfway through the semester. Make the most of your day by spending more time on the activities you want or need to accomplish and less on rummaging for papers or calling classmates to figure out when assignments might be due. Organization is key to keeping your sanity through the hectic tornado of college life.