How To Prepare for the New School Year

I don't want to brag or anything, but I'm a pretty stellar student.  I got an overwhelmingly positive response to my post entitled How to Write a Really Long Paper, so I thought I'd help you out once more.  This time I will share my knowledge by providing useful tips on how to prepare for the new school year. 

Most of you probably already started school in the past week, and for this I apologize.  It would've been better for you to use this new-found knowledge earlier, but I wanted all my advice to come straight from my present life.  Which means all of my counseling is from these past few weeks up until now. 

Starting a new school year can be really exciting and even a little scary because a lot is changing in a little amount of time.  Before classes even start you have to move into your new apartment/dorm and unpack, meet any new roommates, grocery shop, and buy textbooks.  That is a lot of stuff, so take my advice and just don't do it.  At least not all at once. 

I was able to move into my new apartment last Thursday, and it was pretty tiring moving all those things from the car to my room.  I didn't want to exhaust myself, so I didn't start unpacking till yesterday.  Of course I'm doing it in increments, so I unpacked just one box.  I only have a few more to go. 

It's all about pacing yourself.

I also took a mini vacation during the last weekend of summer break.  I went to Yellowstone with work friends and it was a blast.  I even became friends with a chipmunk.

If Celeste's head wasn't in the way you would see Old Faithful.

That's a buffalo.  Their natural habitats are man-made streets.

This was a much needed break, because I wanted to get away from all the stress of the upcoming school year.  Like I said, I didn't want to unpack everything right away, and I thought it would be better to miss the first week of church in my new student ward.  I would have blended in if I had shown up the first week like everyone else.  This way when I finally show up to church I'll be the intriguing new girl.

Since I was gone over the weekend, I wasn't able to meet my new roommate when she moved in.  I got home around 3am Saturday night, so I met her the next morning.  First impressions are crucial to friendships or any type of relationship in general, which is why I wanted to really nail it with my new roomie.  The first time she saw me I was walking into our bedroom from the bathroom in a t-shirt and underwear.  She said, "Hi, I'm Brook."  And I replied, "I'm Kristen."  And then I went back to bed.  She saw me at a very vulnerable moment considering I was hardly dressed and still half-asleep.  Because of this, Brook knew she could trust me because I trusted her. 

Grocery shopping is also pretty important when you move into your new place.  Like I already mentioned, it doesn't have to be done right away though.  If you wait it saves money, and time.  I have yet to buy any new food, so I'm happily living off of garbanzo beans, animal crackers, greek yogurt, and peanut butter bread.  

I also haven't bought any of my new books yet.  Don't worry about completing your first few assignments or readings, it's all worth the wait when you can avoid the lines. 

Actually, now that I think about it, most of my advice is just to wait.  Some may call it procrastination or laziness, but don't let their negativity fool you.  Life is more exciting if you wait till the last minute to do things.  For example, I left two of my bikes locked up outside of the apartment complex I lived in during Spring and Summer semesters.  Technically, I wasn't allowed to leave them there once I had moved out, but I kind of forgot about them.  I knew they were going to cut the locks and sell the bikes that were left behind, so I went back to good old Liberty Square Apartments to see if my bikes had been cut loose yet.  The whole time I walked towards Lib Square the excitement multiplied while I wondered whether my two bikes had been taken or not.  I wasn't let down.  My mind was blown when I discovered that my lock was gone along with one of my bikes.  The surprising detail was my road bike (worth 3x the amount of my other bike) was still there just resting against the railing.  What an exciting mystery to solve!  It's pretty thrilling to experience a real-life robbery.

I also recommend waiting to pick up your apartment key at least a few days after you move in.  I just got mine today, and I only got locked out twice.  Like I said, it's just more excitement. 

So those are some tips about preparing for the new school year, but what about the first day of school??  The first day of classes will provide hundreds of first impressions, and like I said, those are very important.  Many people mistakenly think that they have to wear their new cute clothes on those first few days of school, but they're wrong.  You don't want people thinking that you care too much.  Then you just look desperate.  Instead, you want to look only halfway decent so your peers know that you are confident enough to rely on solely your good looks instead of richly attire.  Meghan and I both did this and it was pretty obvious how awesome we were.  I also didn't have many options since I still hadn't unpacked.  Killing two birds with one stone!

I hope these tips were useful.  Just follow them and you will be an awesome student like me.