Tips for Incoming Students

By Emily Winters

Are you an incoming Freshman? This can be a challenging, yet exciting time in your life! This blog is run by students, for students, out of the Center for Learning and Student Success. Follow us at https://learningcenter13.wixsite.com/mysite for study tips and other helpful resources - we are here to help!

As you embark on this new journey, you may be wondering how you are going to balance life and school, or what are the most effective ways to take notes, how to balance your time, among other things! Keep reading below for more tips on how to succeed as a first-year student.

Studying and Time Management (see earlier posts for more tips)

Do you have classwork due for all your courses by the end of the week, plus a large paper and a test? Two tips can help with managing the stress and this seemingly insurmountable task: prioritizing and setting small goals.

Firstly, before you begin, have a discussion with yourself: which course is the most challenging for you, and what type of task takes you longer to accomplish? Do you have trouble writing, or have a harder time crafting discussion posts? Pencil in more time for those more challenging tasks - even though those might be the ones we are most likely to procrastinate because of their difficulty.

One way I convince my brain to get started on those tough assignments is to barter with myself. If I complete this task now, or get started on it, accomplishing my work will get easier by the end of the night, and I might even get done my tasks earlier than planned!

Secondly, break up your tasks into accomplishable goals - one helpful way to do this is by utilizing the Pomodoro Method. To continue working effectively for long periods of time, our brains need rest and time to process information!

When using the Pomodoro Method, use a timer, the timer function on your phone, or watch the clock. Work steadily on one task for 20 to 30 minutes. After the time is up, walk away. Walk around the block. Take a shower. Grab a healthy snack. Then, after a ten-minute break, start again. Work steadily on one task for 20 to 30 minutes. Then after the time is up, take another ten-minute break.

These breaks are key! Not only will they provide the necessary rest in between tasks to prevent burn out, but they give your brain time to actually process the information that you are reading.

Another tip for staying on task is to

practice body doubling. Study with another person! Even if you are working on different tasks, another person may provide a calming presence, and model productivity. Originating in an ADHD self-help group, body doubling can be an effective way to keep on task and stay motivated even for folks without ADHD.

For more information on body doubling, visit: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/body-doubling-adhd#how-it-works

Mental Health:

As an incoming freshman, you are facing a lot of life changes. For many of you, this could be your first time living on your own. You might have moved here from far away, and are separated from your family, friends, and previous life. It can be jarring and confusing and make it difficult to remember who you have been as you try to figure out who you are!

Given all these challenges, it is important to prioritize your mental health. Yes, you are here to get an education. Yes, studying and schoolwork is important, and if you are working as well as studying, then your everyday responsibilities are often doubled or tripled. However, without prioritizing healthy ways to ease and cope with your mental health, all of these other tasks will be near impossible to accomplish.

Remember, you are a human being before you are a student.

This being said, here are some helpful tips to managing mental health as a college freshman:

1. Take care of your body and your mind! Sometimes, in times of deep stress or depression or anxiety, it is easy to forget that we have a body! Let alone that it needs to be watered like a garden to grow strong and keep us standing! Eat nutritious foods, incorporate exercise into your daily life, and drink plenty of water.

2. Create a routine that includes activities you enjoy. As humans, we like to punish ourselves. Did you fail to accomplish your school tasks and now do not think you deserve to see your best friend or watch a couple episodes of your favorite television show? There is a difference between unnecessary self-punishment and helpful consequences. Do not withhold small joys from yourself - that does not make for a good mindset for when you do go back to finish your homework.

3. Make a commitment to get out of the house and spend a little less time alone! This could be studying in the library or in the campus center or hanging out in group settings: this can feel difficult if not impossible for many of us! I have certainly been there. Oftentimes, committing even to a small goal like going for a walk at the waterfront or sitting in the campus center around others once a week, can positively affect our mental health!

4. Try to avoid coping with feelings of depression and anxiety with excessive partying! This will disrupt your sleep and create dependencies and negative coping styles that could be hard to break later in life, not to mention negatively impact your academic performance.

For more information on this, click here or here.

Peer Tutoring

Here at the Center for Learning and Student Success, we offer tutoring services in over fifty subjects, including A&P, biology, calculus, English Comp, psychology, and more! Peer tutors meet one on one with fellow students either in person or virtually over Zoom. Sessions last an hour, and you can bring with you any course concepts or questions you would like to discuss! Tutors can help you study or prepare for an exam as well.

A good practice that you can get into as you begin college is to incorporate tutoring into your life right from the start. Often, students will come to us midway through the semester. Sometimes, when someone does not fully understand core topics from the first weeks of school, it can get very overwhelming to try to build on that unstable foundation! Meeting with a peer tutor can help you build that solid foundation for learning and learn helpful studying tips.

After all, your tutor is a student too! We have all been there.

You can schedule up to three appointments with a tutor at one time. It is a useful habit to get into keeping up with your appointments and scheduling perhaps once or twice a week throughout the semester. Choose a day like Sunday or Monday and set aside five minutes to make your appointments!

You can do so by logging onto Raptor Connect. Need assistance with this? Email us at learningcenter@camden.rutgers.edu.

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In summary, being a first-year student can be overwhelming, but resources are available! With peer tutors, study groups, and some methods that can help you become more disciplined - as well as self-compassion and sympathy - you can succeed in your first year of school! You got this!

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Would you like to speak with a mental health professional? The Rutgers wellness center offers therapy appointments. Visit them at https://wellnesscenter.camden.rutgers.edu/ or give them a call at (856) 225-6005.

The Rutgers Camden Office of Disability Services offers several learning accommodations. To learn more or get tested, visit them at https://success.camden.rutgers.edu/disability-services or on the first floor of the Paul Robeson Library, near the IT help desk.

Please visit our Resources and Helpful Video pages for online resources. Be sure to check with your professors and staff to learn more about Rutgers resources!