I know better than anyone that no one wants to talk about school over winter break. It is important to spend a little bit preparing for the new school year though, so you can avoid the night before class jitters as much as possible. Here are 5 Things You Can Do Over Winter Break to Prepare For Next Semester!

Re-Evaluate Your Performance From This Semester

Now is the time to re-evaluate your semester. Reflection is key to growth in my opinion. I would suggest the following:

• Document your GPA. See which classes you passed, which ones you barely passed, etc. Reflect on why that was.
• Go back through all the papers you can find and read the feedback you got on them again.
• Evaluate what was going on in your life this semester. Did you have issues? Did you procrastinate? Were you depressed? What can you do this coming semester  to get the resources you need to deal with this?

I have a whole semester reflection guide that is multiple pages long that I think you will love.

Purchase Your Books

Now is the absolute best time to start buying your text books, if you can. You can ask for textbook money for Christmas or buy them yourself while deals are still happening. Textbooks can take a really long time to get to you, depending on where you order them from–so now would be the best time to get them so you have them on the first day of class (or at least the first week). You can definitely wait to get your textbooks, but I encourage early buying, because one of the most anxious moments around is when you are not prepared during the first week of class. Not being prepared on the first week can definitely be saved, but it can seem like a hard thing to move on from.

Restock Your School Supplies

I don't know about you, but for me it seems like as soon as I get done with the fall semester my stock of supplies is just depleted. Make sure you are all stocked up on pencils, pens, notecards, paper, etc before going back-to-school. Since it's a school related expense your parents will probably feel more comfortable paying for the items, and let's face it, if you can get these items free that would be ideal.

Check Your Financial Aid

This is especially prudent after you get your final grades back. It's important to check to make sure your GPA is in line with any scholarships or grants that you have. You don't want to go back to school and realize a day before classes are back in session that your scholarship wasn't renewed and your schooling isn't fully paid for. So be sure to check on this as soon as possible after grades are posted.

Research Your Professors

Most people research professors before they register for classes, but if you haven't logged on to RateMyProfessors or asked your friends about a certain professor, now would be the best time to do so. Usually at this time you can still change your professors if you decided a professor isn't really for you.

Do you want more tips on things you can do to prepare for next semester during winter break? You are in luck! I came up with 10 total things you can do during winter break to prepare for the spring, and the next 5 tips are available for e-mail subscribers. Sign up now to get this second article plus the Semester Evaluation Worksheet mentioned above.

Again, by signing up to get these freebies, you are also signing up for my newsletter. I usually don't send out more than one update a week. Also by signing up you are getting access to a growing library of fun goodies and extras. After you sign up below and confirm you are a member of my email list you will get a final welcome email with a link to a password protected page on my blog. You will also get the password and from there you can easily access the above guides plus another freebie I have listed so far! If you have any problems/questions/concerns don't hesitate to slide into my inbox at amanda@thehappyarkansan.com. I try to answer any questions there as promptly as possible.