By Breanna Balleby
After surviving the second snowpocalypse of the academic year, everyone is beginning to get back into the normal 
groove of life. Although, as many have experienced, it seems our snow-filled four-day weekend shifted many schedules and deadlines. And yet, it’s still already the end of Week 6! I hope to help you be successful with any schedule shifts you may have experienced (such as midterms or project deadlines) as well as recognize what important deadlines have not changed so that you can be as successful as possible this term.
Believe it or not, but as of yesterday (Wednesday, February 12) we are now half-way through the term! This is definitely the time to check up on your grades. Look at any work you’ve received back from your professors and compare it with how much weight that assignment or test or project holds for your class overall on the course syllabus. You can also check Blackboard for any grades your instructors have posted on there. If your professor doesn’t use Blackboard to post grades, I recommend stopping by their office hours to inquire about this. Bottom line: if you don’t already know how you are doing in your courses, be sure to check on that right away!
If you’re doing well but feel like you got off track recently because of the snow storm or other reasons, I suggest you implement some time management and planning methods. Great examples of both of these resources can be found on the Academic Success Center’s website where they have loads of documents, calendars, study tips, and more to help you out! I personally recommend the Term-at-a-Glance worksheet for figuring out where your big tests and projects are. I do one of these every term, but even my Term-at-a-Glance calendar is becoming obsolete after the rearranging needed to accommodate our snow days. If you didn’t already have one of these started but still would like to reorganize your academic life, I suggest filling out just the latter half of the sheet so you still have an idea of what the second half of your term will look like!
On the other hand, if you discover that you’re not doing very well this term there are many ways to make this term the best it can be. I still encourage you to pursue all of the above tips about time management, prioritization, and more. You also should consider some of the other services provided by the Academic Success Center, such as one-on-one Academic Coaching and visiting the Writing Center to get help on any essays or papers you’re working on. You can also utilize the tutors in your residence hall (ask your Resident Assistant for more info and hours!) for that extra help. Most importantly, I would also suggest a trip to see your academic advisor. There, you can discuss your courses and current grades in more detail and determine whether or not switching a particular class to S (Satisfactory) / U (Unsatisfactory) or W (withdrawing from a course) would be a good choice this term. For more information about what it means to S/U or withdraw from a class, check out this great newsletter. You should make your advising appointment very soon if this is something you are considering, especially because the deadline to S/U or Withdraw is February 21, 2014 (Friday of Week 7)!
I wish you all a happy second half of Winter Term and hope you take advantage of the academic support offered to you as an OSU student!
