August has finally come and now all of us students are getting prepped and ready for the upcoming school year that we're about to face. We're all frantically looking for the best deals on school books and hoping they'll come in the mail in time for the first week of classes. As a college student going into my third year of school at a university, I've gotten pretty good at procrastinating the whole "back-to-school prep" thing and still being ready. However, I still seem to struggle with actually being ready for the school year to start. Physically, I have all the supplies and I have a pretty good idea of my schedule, but mentally my brain struggles to get into school mode. That's why this year I've decided to do things a little differently. I've been getting ready since the beginning of August, and figured I might as well share what I've done to help myself feel more prepared for this upcoming school year.

The hardest part about this upcoming school year was that I was struggling to find a new place to live at the same time I needed to start getting ready for school. I had to be out of one house by August 5th, and I didn't even find a new place until the 3rd, which was very stressful and caused me to sort of have to focus on that so I wouldn't be homeless. However, the minute I signed a new lease and got all my stuff at the new place, I immediately went to work unpacking. If you're moving into a dorm or just moving in somewhere else around this time, unpack all your boxes immediately. It's the worst being in school and also dealing with unpacking a ton of boxes. You won't be able to really feel like you're home if all you see around you is a bunch of boxes.

You also have to remember to prep for classes as well, and I have learned the hard way not to leave this until the end. You know how a lot of people tell you to wait to get books until the first week of classes to make sure you actually need those books? Don't listen to them. If it's required from your professor, even if you don't see readings scheduled for homework it'll still benefit you to have that information on you, because you never know what they might spring on you during a test. Look around a few websites before ordering your books, not just Amazon. I've found that Thriftbooks.com is a great website that has a lot of textbooks that are sometimes cheaper than Amazon's prices. Also, check out what other students have said about your professors on ratemyprofessors.com. The best time to do this is when signing up for classes, but that's okay if you didn't. See tips from others about how they got through the class even if the professor isn't the best. I'm also planning a trip to campus to check where each of my classes are, and I'll be timing how long it takes to get from one class to the next, comparing that to how much time I have in between classes. Know where everything is, even find out which dining hall is closest to the class you have right before or after lunch. Don't forget you're still a human and you need to eat! Schedule your days out (including eating and free times) before everything starts so you already know when you'll be studying and when you can do something else, like watch Netflix.

There's obviously a lot more that'll have to go into getting ready for school, but these are the biggest things that took me a while to figure out. No matter what, the first few weeks of school are going to be stressful. You may find that your slotted study time isn't long enough, or you need to wake up sooner than you thought to get the best parking spot. You'll get the hang of it, it'll just take some time. But having a plan beforehand, having something that you'll be adjusting rather than making an entirely new schedule while trying to get settled in, will make you feel at least a little bit more on top of the stress that you have. I'm ready for the school year, and I know you will be too. Just keep working hard!