Baddie Dorm Room Essentials
While you’re out gathering neon lighting and large mirrors for your baddie dorm room this fall, don’t forget some of the basics. As a college professor and private tutor for more than 20 years, here are my top three tips for moving from baddie dorm room resident to Dean’s List A-Lister.
Baddie Dorm Room Essential #1: Noise canceling headphones and / or foam earplugs.
Most students believe that they can maintain focus with background noise or music. (And what baddie dorm room doesn’t have great music?) But recent studies suggest that such “multitasking” taxes the brain, forcing it to engage in constant micro-switching between your baddie dorm room vibes and your art history paper. Investing in a good set of noise-canceling headphones (and maybe some foam earplugs) will allow you to get your best work done.
Baddie Dorm Room Essential #2: A printer, paper, and ink.
Even though most student submit assignments electronically, nothing beats proofreading and editing your writing on paper – printed from the comfort of your very own baddie dorm room. Pro tip:
Read your work aloud to catch typos, awkward phrases, and logical flaws.
Baddie Dorm Room Essential #3: Corkboard, pushpins, and paper calendar OR white board calendar, markers, and eraser.
Years ago, the mom of a brilliant Smith College first year hired me to be her daughter’s time management coach. Due to a few too many baddie dorm room parties, the young woman had missed multiple assignments during the fall. If she didn’t start passing classes in the spring, she’d be expelled.
When I asked this student when her next assignments were due, she had no idea – and she hadn’t even printed out her syllabi! (See also, Suggestion #2!)
Instead of checking into the online LMS (learning management system) for five different classes, print out your syllabi and transfer the due dates to a white board calendar OR a large paper calendar you print and tack to a corkboard. You need daily visual reminders of when assignments are coming due so that they don’t slip into the digital morass of your phone calendar. Check out this baddie dorm room version!
Bye-Bye, HS Bedroom; Hello, Baddie Dorm Room!
While you’re shopping for the fairy lights and fake ivy, try not to forget these three things that’ll help you succeed at the reason you’re at college in the first place. And if your path to the Dean’s List falters, remember you can always drop me a line asking for help in any college course!
