Winter Quarter Survival Guide

Dark mornings, cold weather and constant deadlines with a distant light at the end of the tunnel makes EvCC students wonder, “Will winter quarter ever be over?”

Students seem to be losing steam and fast on campus, no matter their major of study. Students are expressing their lack of sleep and the pressure of deadlines contributing to their stress at this place in the quarter. Social psychology professor Gocke Gungor-Munoz, when talking about students losing some momentum stated, “I see this happening in my classroom as well.”

So why is this happening? Diane Simpson Brown, Social Sciences Department chair and psychology instructor here at EvCC stated, “(in winter quarter) we’re gray and dark out and that can affect (students) moods….winter quarter is a pretty compact quarter so we move pretty swiftly going over materials.” Diane has been in her position at EvCC for eight years now and has seen many quarters of students in her psychology program. She mentioned fall has its different stresses but there is a holiday break for Thanksgiving that stretches it out a bit more, but it has its own set of stressors too.

Austin King, pre-nursing student in his second quarter at EvCC,  said, “Absolutely, college stress is a very real thing.” He continued on to say, “A normal functioning life is out of the question right now.” The balancing act is not always perfected for students in their first or second quarters of school.

Rebekah Pusateri, Running Start said, “Yes. (college stress) affects my sleep, time with friends and family…I still get my homework done but it just takes me a lot longer than it normally would.” Her advice for students feeling the winter quarter pressure; schedule homework in time slots. She said, “I live off my schedule planner. Every time I get a new thing I make sure to schedule it in time slots.”

Not all students are fresh out of high school either. Shirley Acfalle, bookkeeping certificate student in her first quarter at EvCC is a mom with a full time job who is getting retrained at EvCC. She said what has helped her not to feel overwhelmed this quarter is taking a less demanding class schedule in her first quarter back to school.

After years of just working and not being in school she said, “I know what to expect now, I wanted to be familiar with the schedule.”  Having a son to take care of and still working she found that registering for her first quarter back she didn’t want to overwhelm herself with heavy class material. Her tip for students feeling the stress is just that, “Take classes that you know you can handle and can do well in.”

Whether its pressure of deadlines, lack of sleep, no social life or all of the above, winter quarter is coming to a close and these tips are here to help students finish strong. Spring quarter is soon to be staring us in the face with warmer weather and later sunsets but never forget, the grass always looks greener on the other side friends.

Winter Quarter Survival Guide Tips:

• Attitude. How you perceive your situation is key. “If you have personal problems the quarter is not going to slow down.” Said Diane
• Prioritize/time management:

• Planning ahead is key to help in time management. Everyone’s work, school and personal life is always going to look different to balance so prioritize what is important is helpful.
• Sleep, good nutrition and exercise should not be neglected. Your health is a major priority.
• Ask yourself how much time you spend on Facebook or watching television.

• Proven stress reducers are human contact, exercise and prayer/meditation.

* From professional (Diane Simpson Brown, psychology instructor)