A BYU–Hawaii alumnus in graduate school, the director of the Library and the Center for Academic Success, and a BYUH senior, shared tips on how to better handle another remote semester of classes. Their recommendations included good time management, self-discipline and taking breaks after studying.
Dani Castro, a Winter 2020 Graduate from Texas, said he is motivated to work hard because, as a first-generation American, he wants to make his family proud and take advantage of the opportunities that weren’t available to his parents. “I think if we want to be motivated, we have to look internally, and we have to think about what is important to us,” Castro said.
He then said to ask yourself, “Is it because you want to do well in a certain career, and you want to have the GPA to represent your success?” Or is it to make your family proud?
Castro is a graduate student at Midwestern State University. He said for those who are doing remote learning to adapt to and learn the new circumstances, including virtual challenges. Students need to change their routines and habits, he explained, to become successful.
Castro said he told himself he needed to deserve success. He said to prepare for tests and quizzes, he “works hard, to study hard and to make sure that I understand the material."
“Everyone learns differently,” Castro said, and he recommended students be patient and to ask for help if the course work is difficult to understand.
Sara Sharp, a senior from Washington majoring in political science, said she balances work and personal time by making a weekly list of her assignments. “Pacing yourself and leaving time for reading assignments is always an important piece of time management.
“Now is the time to develop self-discipline and give online classes your best effort.” She added this is the time to practice for “when your boss gives you an assignment and you’re expected to complete it diligently and in a timely manner.”
As a graduate student, Castro shared graduate school is hard, time-consuming and overbearing. He said he struggles with both time management and distractions from social media and his cell phone. He realized he needed to “put my phone down and be in a distraction free environment in order to be successful.”
Castro said it is easy to open Facebook while using his laptop to study. He shared he needed to reward himself by “studying for 20 minutes and go on Facebook for five minutes or study for an hour and then give myself a 10-minute break.” Castro recommends being self-disciplined including keeping track of how students use their time.
Sharp recommended students should “reach out to your peers and friends. Stay in touch with others from [school] as we go through the first-ever [remote learning] 14-week semester.”
She said it is unfortunate everyone can’t be in the classroom, but “we still need to maintain the spirit of aloha and support one another."
Michael Aldrich, who is the director of the Library and oversees the Center for Academic Success, said, “There are a couple of things that I try to tell my students as I meet with them and talk through their plans for fall.”
Aldrich said first is to manage their time as if it were in regular in-person class. If it’s a class at 1 p.m., “try and set that schedule for yourself. Keep a regular schedule because that’ll help you stay on top of things.”
Aldrich added keeping up with assignments and turning them in on time. “Get them done. Plan them out [at the] beginning of the semester.
“You don’t want to be doing them all the night before, so plan ahead,” said Aldrich. “Look at [and] schedule out your assignments.” Aldrich also recommended after hours of being on the computer, take a break.