It’s the end of our cold but cozy holiday. We’ve celebrated Christmas, New Year’s Day and even Valentine’s
Day, and it is time to leave your warm bed and pause the movie marathon.
Some welcome the semester with anxiety while others welcome it with open arms. So how can you leave all your worries at the gate and start a successful year?
Put yourself out there: The secret of success is not by having the highest scores or the best university achievement awards. Without personal interaction skills, you will have a hard time standing out when you start your career. Companies are looking for candidates with good communication skills and multicultural competencies. It is the best time to learn now!
The beginning of the semester is the only time students don’t put barriers between them, you can walk, talk and get to know anyone. Being an international student, I had a hard time interacting with Koreans, most of the time, they will avoid long conversations because they have difficulty expressing themselves in English.
Advice: Practice makes perfect. International students are not here to judge your English skill, they are here to help you overcome it. By the end of the semester, you will get rid of your “foreigner fear,” and learn a lot about cultures from Ewha students coming from all over the world.
Organization: During my first semester, I fell behind on my to-do list because of my negligence. This cost me my sanity - literally. I was so stressed. I was fighting against time. I had to keep checking the cyber campus, which wasn’t useful all the time since some professors don’t post the homework or remind you of it. You could see me running like a headless cow between the computer room and the Canon printing center.
Advice: Start this spring semester with “organization.” Get your own to-do schedule, including this week’s homework all the way to “what to revise” for the exams, to avoid stress, and to do work over the long term, regular and efficient.
We must learn to be autonomous because nobody is behind you to empower you but yourself. Be positive and go for it!
Get ready for the exam:
Taking notes with your laptop might sound quick and practical, but you might lose focus in less than five minutes. We often type mindlessly what we hear, then we see a yellow notification on the side of our screen, 20 minutes later we realize that we just replied every Kakao message down to the creepy guy we’ve been avoiding, out of boredom. You might think “It won’t happen to me” but let me assure you that it will! These yellow notifications are so attractive and devilish, it will pop-up when you are listening to the part of the lecture that will somehow land in your midterms.
Advice: Start revising smart! Adopt the old fashion: books, index cards, and highlighters. Colorful notes will be of great help for revisions (especially if you get bored or distracted easily). It will allow you to learn effectively while following the program.
We like to move it: To remain calm and focused, it is best to find a sport to practice outside or within the university. This will allow you to relax and recharge your energy. Ewha offers a lot of options, you can join the campus’ gym or even the swimming pool for reasonable prices.
Let’s start this year stress-free, and learn how to enjoy your best years. Don’t forget to have fun and build your network. Your university friends are the only friends that you will share the best years of your twenties with. Let’s put competition aside and build happy memories.