Tutoring, you notice which months are tough on students.  There are also your own recollections….

This year, Christmas came a few days after the public school students left for holidays.  As a result, their days off stretched longer at the back end.  Between Christmas and January 7, you get used to a new way of life that doesn’t include going to school.  It can be a hard habit to break.

Remembering my university days, January was always the toughest month for me.  The weather was grey and dismal.  It was so hard to face the cold, grey campus after the festive time of Christmas.  The courses were new, so you weren’t yet engaged with them.  Bottom line:  too many changes at once, against a dismal backdrop.

I found that when February came, I usually felt much better.  The weather was much better by then (of course we’re talking about Victoria, but up here is not too different).  As well, I’d developed some attachment to my courses.  Indeed, February was a much easier month.  Momentum carried me through March – in spite of its avalanche of new material.

Life is about habits.  Good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, you’ll likely continue a habit.

Here, then, are some of my hints about weathering the month of January:

1. Don’t expect much from any given day – but go to class every day, anyway.
2. Remember that 45 minutes of homework is better than nothing, even if it’s not enough.
3. Try, if possible, to focus on the main idea of what the instructor is discussing.  If you need to throw something away, cut out details.
4. The days you really don’t want to go to class – but you go anyway – are the most important ones.
5. Remember:  Everyone else is in the same boat.

Years ago, I recall seeing a student handbook on the ground.  When I picked it up, it opened to a page that showed the principal and vice principal pointing out at the reader.  They were smiling.  The caption read “Remember:  every day counts.”

Those two people understood about habits – and that attending school needs to be one of them.

Good luck this January.  I’ve been there and I know it’s tough.

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.