Back from break, already? It seems like we were all just building up to this anticipation of getting to go home and seeing our family and friends. Ten days seemed like two. It was great to just lounge around, and have no agenda and be able to let our minds relax after a very tough adjustment period.
But really, coming back to “The Castle” was a big wake up call for most. After 10 days of relaxation, we were all shoved back into a very rigorous schedule with a lot of work thrown at us as soon as we returned. There were midterms, busy sports schedules, big presentations due, and stress is at an all time high. Also, we have to start thinking about registration that’s just a few weeks away.
After we just get settled into our schedules, we have to start thinking about new ones. All of this is very overwhelming, but I’m your alarm telling you to wake up from the dream state of break, and get back into the swing of things!

Midterms for freshmen are actually very scary concepts. We have no idea what to expect, and studying for something that counts for a majority of our grade is not something we’re used to.
My advice: get a large group of people together from your class, and start studying every night that you possibly can.  And most importantly, don’t stress too much. Stay focused, stay motivated, and know that all of the late nights and hard work are going to pay off when you see an A+ on the top of your test in the next couple weeks.
Registration can be extremely stressful too. Since we’re all new to this, it can be hard for us to know exactly what classes we should be taking, and how to work our classes into our already cemented schedules. Let’s face it, we all have certain times of the day that we nap and want down time before class. But as college freshmen, we always have to be looking into the future.
So our next plan of action is to sit down and figure out how we want to be spending our time academically next semester. If any problems arise, there are always advisors who are more than happy to help with anything. The great thing about Castleton, there are always friendly
faces around who are dying to answer any questions that us eager freshmen have.
What I’m really trying to say is that we have to keep our spirits up. Once the school work gets hard, a lot of us tend to want to just give up. We stop doing homework because we think “Oh, it’s just one grade. It won’t hurt my GPA.”
Actually, in the long run, it can. But we always have something to look forward too. Whether it’s the feeling of accomplishment after that big project is done or knowing that after this hard work week we have the whole weekend to sleep and just have a really great time, carefree.
Stay motivated! There’s always something that will get us through the week. Don’t get into a funk. It’s extremely hard to get out of.