Welcome or welcome back to William & Mary! The fall 2023 semester is in full swing and classes are starting to increase their workloads. With the upcoming assignments, labs, quizzes, exams, and more, it is extremely important to be organizing your schedule. Here are a few tips on how to create a study schedule:
Plan out commitments
Classes, clubs, sports, jobs, events, and other activities take up a good portion of a schedule. Putting them on your schedule first is a good reminder of times that are already taken.
Figure out your learning style
Things like how difficult your work is, how long it usually takes to complete, and how much work each class has are also helpful when considering how much time you alot to studying
Creating a schedule
Try scheduling times around your commitments that would best fit your learning style and needs. Using the information gathered above, schedule in times that would be good for studying! Don’t forget about scheduling breaks!
Sticking to your schedule
What’s the point of a schedule if it’s not followed? Being consistent with studying and sticking to a schedule is the best way to make sure you’re getting the most out of each day. If your schedule becomes too overwhelming, try altering it! Making and sticking to study schedules can be a bit of trial and error, but finding a system that works for you will greatly help with consistency and efficiency.
Beginning a new semester, whether it be your first college semester or last, can be a whirlwind of emotions. Finding a healthy mindset while surrounded by a new buzzing environment is a daunting, yery necessary task to setting oneself up for a balanced semester. Setting the baseline for what a healthy mindset feels to you at the beginning of the semester can give you something to refer back to if the semester becomes overwhelming and stressful. Finding and maintaining a healthy, positive mindset allows for growth
Consider adding these few tips to your healthy mindset toolbox:
Acceptance
Accepting who you are and where you are in the moment, places your mindset in the present. It can be easy to hold grudges against the past, but the best way to move forward is accepting the past and present.
Gratitude
Gratitude can be practiced by mentally listing things you’re grateful for, writing in a journal, etc. However you practice gratitude, the positive action can influence a positive outlook.
Get good sleep
Getting good sleep can be a form of self care. Setting aside the recommended 6-9 hours of sleep replenishes energy needed to power through the day.
Set aside time for yourself
The very environment of college is centered around academics. Setting aside time for yourself to do fun things like participating in a club, taking a walk around Colonial Williamsburg, or meditating can help balance your mindset.
Reframe negative self-talk
Stress glorification and negative self-talk can creep in, especially during overwhelming times. Words have more power than they seem, so what you say to and about yourself can affect your mindset. Practice being kind to yourself and you’ll be surrounded by positivity.
Connect with friends and family
Just like setting aside time for yourself, spending time with those you care about can help replenish balance and positivity in your day.
William & Mary has over 450 clubs and student organizations! With more than enough to choose from, you’re bound to find a group to join. Clubs and organizations are a wonderful way to make new friends, try new things, connect with the community, and obtain leadership positions.
Here’s a few unique clubs and organizations to consider checking out:
American Bosnian Collaboration Project: “A summer service trip focused on education, research, and peace-building with a required government course in the spring semester. We send 4-7 students to Bosnia-Herzegovina to teach English, filmmaking, and non-violent communication in a four week camp.
American Sign Language Club: “William & Mary’s only sign language opportunity on campus – Come join us to learn and practice American sign language in a fun, informal environment while learning about d/Deaf culture and more! All skill levels welcome.”
Bullet Journaling Club: “Bujo promotes mental wellness, proactive time management, organization, stress relief, and productivity through the activity of bullet journaling.”
Camp Kesem William & Mary: “Camp Kesem is an active community throughout the United States, driven by college students, supporting children through and beyond their parent’s cancer with free year-round services. Camp Kesem’s main program is a week-long sleep away summer camp.”
Challah for Hunger at W&M: “Challah for Hunger is an international organization that engages college students in advocacy. At W&M, CfH brings students together not only through the act of baking and eating challah, but also with the power of participating in good deeds.”
Cheese Club: “Escape the rigors of college and come join us for cheese tastings in an inclusive, stress-free environment!”
Dad Jeans Improv: “ Long form, narrative based improv.”
Drag & Drop: “A safe space for students of any gender and sexual identity to experiment with the art of drag.”
Fermentation Club: “Fermentation club will serve as a space for active and hopeful fermenters to gather, share, ideate, and discuss all things fermentation.”
Matoaka Bottom Feeders: “The Matoaka Bottom Feeders is a recreational club encouraging fishing. The core purpose of the MBF is to promote fishing as a form of outdoor recreation and to foster a fishing community. Our motto is ‘tight lines and good times.’”
Nerf Games: “Join us every Saturday evening to shoot your friends over and over in foam flinging glory. Open to all.”
Random Acts of Kindness Club: “Join us for an opportunity to make a positive impact on our community through small acts of kindness. Take a break from studying and meet new people, all while striving to do something meaningful on campus.”
Veggie Society: “The purpose of this organization is to provide a space on campus for those who are interested in plant-based eating and lifestyles to come together.”
Wren Pals at William & Mary: “Wren Pals at William & Mary seeks to form meaningful connections between William & Mary students and residents at senior living communities in order to reduce the loneliness and isolation often felt by these individuals.”
For a full list of clubs/organizations: https://tribelink.wm.edu/organizations
Communication around campus is vital towards staying connected and up-to-date. There are a few ways William & Mary undertakes communication and additional ways you can stay in the loop.
Emails
Everything from important updates to giveaways to internship opportunities are communicated by the many different emails you’ll receive.
Student Happenings:
Student Happenings emails contain information on upcoming events and announcements semi-weekly. They can be extremely helpful for finding research and job opportunities, being reminded of upcoming events, finding new clubs, and more!
Campus Corner by Auxiliary Services:
Auxiliary Services are in charge of dining, transportation, spirit, and tribe card services. Campus Corner emails are sent out monthly and contain updates on mostly dining events & changes and parking & transportation information.
William & Mary Athletics:
Emails from William & Mary Athletics contain the latest information on sporting events and games!
Career Conversations:
Career Conversations by Tribe Careers contain information on job and career opportunities personalized to your interests. Signing up for their email list will introduce you to career advancement opportunities like resume building workshops, and also deliver information on new job opportunities and recruitment events!
Student Affairs:
Student Affairs email when there’s important information on anything that concerns students. For a better example, Student Affairs have sent emails on last day of class activities, graduating surveys, campus policies, and construction updates.
Social Media
While you’re automatically enrolled in most emails, you can gain additional information on the latest news, upcoming events, free giveaways, and more from following these social media accounts:
Office hours are an opportunity to discuss course content, academic goals, research opportunities, and more. Each professor states or lists their office hours in the course syllabus and are usually a couple hours per week.
How to prepare
Make sure you are prepared before attending by identifying specific questions and/or problems ahead of time. Avoid waiting until exam season to attend as it can become very busy and stressful for both the professor and you.
When should you attend office hours?
There are a variety of reasons to attend office hours. If you’re struggling with the material, it might be helpful to ask your professor or TA for help understanding. If you’re in need of accommodations, talking to your professor during office hours is a good way to make sure they’re aware of your situation. Research opportunities can become available through attending office hours. If you’re looking for a research project, office hours can be the first step in building a connection with your professor. Similarly, professors can offer professional advice on your field of study or prospective career. With this being said, it’s best to attend office hours when you are in need of clarifications or genuine questions.
Why you should attend
Office hours can be valuable time to make connections with your professors and gain a better understanding of the material you’re learning in class. You can use this time to ask questions about what you’re learning in class, get ideas on how you should study the material, or review past assessments, which will all help create a professional relationship between you and your professor. Even if you’re just asking for help on a homework question, professors will appreciate you putting in the effort to succeed in class.
Failure is something that everyone comes in contact with at least once in their life. The word failure is primarily associated with negative connotations, though put in a new perspective, failure can be seen as an opportunity to grow. During college, failure is inevitable, but using it to reflect and re-evaluate can ultimately lead to success. There are a few things that can help shift perspective around failure:
Detaching self worth from success
It’s easy to become overly self-critical, especially as college students strive for high grades and extracurricular accomplishments. Working towards detaching your self worth from success can set you up for more growth towards your goals. Once you realize that the outcome of an event isn’t correlated with the image of yourself, it can become easier to accept failure and use it as building blocks to more progress. One mistake doesn’t define who you are as a person, even if it seems that way in the moment. If you feel failure taking over your self worth, remember all of the amazing accomplishments you have already achieved.
Focusing on what you CAN control
Separate between what you can and can’t control. What you can’t control is out of your power, so focus on what you CAN control. You can’t influence outside factors, but what’s in your control can be changed for the better.
Finding the cause of failure and own your mistakes
The first step in transitioning from failure to growth is identifying the cause of failure. The best way to learn from failure is to own your mistakes. If you can accept what went wrong and analyze it, there’s a better chance that you can grow from a mistake instead of denying that something went wrong.
Using failure as an opportunity to grow
Instead of viewing failure as defeat, use it as an opportunity to reflect on what you could change in order to try again. After detaching your self worth, focusing on what you can control, and owning your mistakes, you can separate failure from its negative connotations. Failure can teach us what doesn’t work, and sometimes how you can fix a situation.
College is a time for exploration and discovery filled with various successes and failures. It’s important to remember that it’s OK to fail!
What’s the absolute worst that could happen? And how could you handle that situation if you do fail? Most times, when putting the absolute worst into perspective, you can realize that the outcome of failure is reasonable, but heightened by anxiety.
It’s easier said than done, but overcoming a fear of failure and taking full advantage of each outcome of opportunities can set a strong foundation for future growth!
Not studying in the library can be a hot take, but there are a couple reasons that make the library not the best option for every study session. The environment you study in can greatly impact your concentration and productivity. Because the library is the default study spot for most students, it can get crowded and loud, especially during exam weeks. It can be easy to get distracted while studying at the library with tour groups filtering in and out, friends popping up, and loud study groups even on the upper floors. Similarly, finding a seat in the library is time consuming during peak hours and exam seasons. Whether you’re looking for a fresh space or secret spots, there are a variety of options of where to study instead.
When the weather is nice, William & Mary’s campus has many outdoor areas that are favorable to studying. Swem patio tables (with umbrellas!), the Sunken Garden chairs, Sadler Terrace, and the various benches, tables, and chairs around campus are perfect spots to enjoy the outdoors while getting work done!
Another great idea for a study spot are the meeting rooms in ISC. Similar to the study rooms in Swem, there are a number of small meeting rooms in ISC that have whiteboard walls and comfy chairs that are perfect for small groups or a quiet concentration spot.
The Wellness Center is a serene spot to study if you’re looking for nature views and a quiet, air-conditioned environment. They even have comfy chairs and couches surrounded by walls of glass outlooking the trails.
After classes conclude in the academic buildings, classrooms are open for studying. If you have a favorite classroom, consider making it your next study area!
If you have the ability to travel off campus, there are many coffee shops and restaurants where you can study. Aromas is within walking distance from campus, and is a great study spot for those who work well in cafe environments. Restaurants like Panera and Starbucks are farther, but also serve as good places to work!
Aside from stellar academics and activities, one William & Mary’s best assets is its photogenicism. The following list contains some of the most picturesque places on campus along with photos I’ve taken.
Crim Dell Bridge
The Crim Dell Bridge is known to be one of the best picture spots around campus during all seasons!
Wren Building
The oldest American academic building still in use and also a great picture spot!
ISC windows
Check out these beautifully painted windows on the upper level of ISC!
Business School
The Business School has beautiful architecture perfect for a quick picture!
Wellness center
The tall windows capture both the relaxing feel of the wellness center and the beautiful nature that surrounds campus.
Sunken garden + surrounding area
The Sunken Garden and its surrounding area are perfect spots for pictures. I personally love the willow tree!
Lake Matoaka
The amphitheater and trails are great spots to capture the beauty of Lake Matoaka (especially at golden hour!)
College can be a stressful environment, so it’s important to recognize the signs when you might need to take a mental health day. (This is by no means an extensive list or professional advice. For emergencies contact the appropriate resources.)
Feeling run down
Low motivation
Lost ability to focus and concentrate during class
There are so many interesting classes to choose from at William & Mary. To get a sense of how many awesome subjects there are to learn about here, I asked a couple William & Mary students what their favorite classes have been:
Alena Jones ‘26
Mermaid Tales with Professor Francessca Sawaya and Capitalism and Revolution with Professor Elliot Warren
“I would say Mermaid Tales was a really good class while transitioning into W&M because it’s the type of class that similar types of people enroll in. Professor Sawaya also does an incredible job of helping us make personal connections with other class members with collaborative assignments that help us build off each other’s ideas. Capitalism and Revolution helped me confirm my decision to want to major in history at William & Mary and made me completely rethink the importance of European history in the broader global context.”
Emma Dunlop ‘26
Social Psychology with Dr. Moloney
“Her lessons were engaging and always connected to relevant, present-day topics. Also, the assignments were fun and thought-provoking. It was a great way to spend my mornings!”
Audrey Rasmussen ‘26
Emerging Diseases with Dr. Sher
“We talked about major diseases in history and public health response to these diseases, as well as current outbreaks around the world. The scientific journal articles we read were super interesting, and I enjoyed my research for our final paper. My writing and presentation skills improved because of this class and Dr. Sher’s excellent feedback!”
Mia Honda ‘26
Books and Biases with Professor Conradi Smith
“We got to do some cool research about children’s books that we all most likely read as kids!”
Arleigh Wagoner ‘26
History of Western Music with Professor La Barre
“I enjoyed listening to and learning about music and how its changed over time. Plus, as someone who reads/plays music, I learned a lot about the history of notation, the development of instruments, and how the broad term ‘classical music’ is divided into categories I’d never known before! The professor was fantastic and I loved the required concert assignments and listening maps!”
Aneesa Parish ‘24
Evolution of Organisms with Professor Murphy
When it comes to the course, I believe that was the best evolution class I’ve ever taken, and I am not a theory-based biology student. I was nervous at first, but the way she structured her lectures, she gives breaks where you can ask her to repeat something even if you’re a tad bit confused. Coming from that 300 level course, I knew everything so much more in depth. The environment is great and Professor Murphy really cares for her students as far as understanding as well as mentally, especially when you’re taking orgo and physics together along with her class (most of us were in Junior fall semester). For reference, I was really struggling mentally with everything going on towards the end of the semester and broke down in her office over a quiz I didn’t think I’d have time to take. She laughed, offered tissues, and just said, ‘take an extra day or don’t take it.’ She has her class structured for students like me with extra assignments just in case you aren’t able to get to one later in the semester.”
Sarah Callahan ‘26
American Medical History 1750-1950 with Professor Brennan
“I’m not even a STEM major, I just took it for fun and she made it very accessible by explaining how the US perception of the body changed over time. We also took a field trip to the exhibit in Williamsburg where the public hospital used to be, which was essentially a mental asylum that sanctioned questionable treatment methods using 18th and 19th century medical knowledge.”
Chiara Leupke ‘25
History of Christianity with Professor Angelov
“It was a fascinating, thought-provoking class that left me talking and thinking about the topics outside of class. The course focuses on how Christian theology developed and spans from ancient Greco-Roman society to the current state of religion post-Reformation. As an economics major, this class gave me the liberal arts experience that W&M is known for.
Josep Ocampo ‘25
Nation, Race, & Gender in South Asia with Professor Zutshi
“Last year, I took a class about a region I had little to no knowledge of. The course was Nation, Race, & Gender in South Asia taught by Professor Zutshi. Learning about how the interplay between race and gender shaped the nation and its evolution from the Mughal period up to the present was truly fascinating. Prior to this class, I hadn’t envisioned studying gender to be as insightful as it was. It changed the way that I viewed society and made me notice the similarities and differences in what a nation means/meant across different geopolitical regions. I gained a new way to look at the world and I expect I’ll take many more eye-opening classes during my time here.”
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