Hey college students, do you want to know the secret to a successful semester? Start strong. That’s it. If you keep going and rock your finals, you will sail through another semester and earn the grades you want. The first few weeks of a new semester are the most important because you establish connections with professors, figure out their curriculum expectations, and meet fellow students for productive study groups. The first day of class is the most exciting, right? Get in there and see what you must do to succeed. Read the syllabus so you understand attendance policies, grading procedures, dates of exams or performances/prerequisites, etc.
Start Strong
If you sleep through the first week of classes, miss the first several assignments, or fail your first exam, you will have to work much harder to catch up. The stress will take over your life and lack of sleep will inevitably lead to sickness. Part of starting strong is getting organized—make a master plan of “must-dos” and do them every day.
Successful students learn how to avoid wasting time on unimportant tasks. There will never be enough time for all of us to do everything—but with planning, we can finish our most important projects. Planning includes prioritizing, because there are many ways you can study, but some will be more crucial to your current course load than others. Prioritize your time so that you will attend classes, study, and practice. Watching a Met HD performance is educational and inspiring, but did you practice your own music today?
Prioritizing is the way to get your work done and still give yourself time to relax. As singing artists, your life experiences will create emotional connection to music, so it is vital to make time to socialize and restore so you are happy and healthy. The trick is to find a realistic balance between your job (college) and your life (friends and family).
Keep Going
Once you’ve started your semester strong, check your master schedule often. Mid-semester is not a time to check out and decide you need a break. That’s why many courses have mid-term exams. Form study groups with focused students. If your besties aren’t the best study buddies, hang out with them later and study with the students that synergize and accomplish the work that must be done.
Mistakes happen, but successful students will move on. Dwelling on failure is a downer, so pick yourself up with the most positive attitude you can muster and simply do it better. As a college student, your job is to learn. If you can learn from your mistakes, you will create habits of success in all areas of life. Check your “must-do” list often, and by actively working on tasks, you will continue meeting your short-term goals each day/week of the semester.
Daily practice will start to pay off mid-semester as you will probably be memorizing songs at this point and techniques learned in lessons are taking hold. Voice majors are studying the art of singing, so it is common to let exams and papers take priority over practice—but your daily list of “must-dos” includes practice in order to become the best singer you can be.
Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles, said, “You can’t let the urgent overcome the important.” This is crucial advice for college students that have big goals such as graduation and career. Music majors will achieve the “big” goals by keeping the important job of practicing on the top of the daily “must-do” list.
Rock Your Finals
At the end of the semester, most college students are cramming for at least a few finals, projects, performances, etc. If you have a full credit load, you will probably have an intense week of finals just when it is time to perform with your ensembles and sing your juries. The last month of every semester is busier for music majors than for our “civilian” student friends across the quad.
Most performances are the culmination of the semester’s rehearsals, so your conductors need you to be healthy, rested, and prepared to give your best. By consistently working all semester on the important components of your studies, you might not need to cram—and if you’ve been a gold-star student, you might even have time for a party or two instead of having to stay in for late-night deadlines.
What If?
If you have procrastinated something you do not enjoy, the end of the semester will be the time to figure out how to get the most done in the shortest amount of time. If you think you sucked, and maybe you did a little, do not let fear of failure take over. When it is crunch time, turn off your phone—OFF, SILENT, seriously, turn it off. Our phones are distracting, and if you can dedicate just one solid hour of study to your last-minute deadline without checking texts, social media, etc., your studies will be more productive.
Uninterrupted practice is especially important when you are working on memorizing for juries and performances. Last-minute memorizing is a struggle. When you find yourself working against the clock, eliminate distractions for a set amount of time and do as much as you can. Be honest with yourself about your strengths, ask professors for advice, and do your best work in the time you have.
Be Fabulous
When you carry around your master schedule and someone calls a sectional rehearsal or you find out there is an exam, you can immediately check your schedule and prioritize your time. From smart phone calendars to paper planners, there are many ways to keep calendars and set alarms. It has been scientifically proven that physically writing things down in order to look at your day/week on paper is the most effective way to plan your schedule.
Whichever method you use, organization is essential for the music major juggling classes with ensembles and a job or two or three. Pencil in personal time—you need an hour here or there to restore. Being fabulous isn’t just “being.” It is planning, doing, stopping, and doing it all again the next day and the day after that and . . . .
