I know you’ve been looking forward to enjoying the holidays since the second week of classes and I feel your pain. And you can! There are also some easy things you can do that will go a long way in making the rest of your time in school less busy. So, I’ve compiled a list of 10 easy things you can do over the holidays that will either help with your finals or career-planning.
- Start on those final term papers. It really is a blessing to have final term papers instead of actual exams. You can actually start on those weeks before dead week and only be half as stressed as everyone else! So, take a day or two during Thanksgiving break and knock them out of the way. When you get back, you can email them to your professors in advance to get pointers. You’ll be glad you did.
- Create a guideline on how best to study for you. It’s crunch time. So, get your notes in order and revise what you’re unclear about. Make a plan and stick to it. Maybe then you’ll have time to eat or drink somet
hing besides coffee and not be completely dead during dead week. - It’s never too early to start looking at graduate schools. Whether you’re pre-med, pre-law or just going to continue on to graduate school, start researching which schools best fit what you want to study. Learn what they are looking for and figure out how best to impress them.
- Speaking of graduate schools, take a chance to revamp your resume and your cover letter. Make sure your resume tells potential employers exactly what you want them to know and your cover letter elaborate on what your resume cannot. A lot of the job markets are competitive, and your resume is your first impression!
- Research places where you can do internships that best fit your career path. Internships are required for a lot of the majors here in the School of Public Health. If you start looking at places no
w, you’ll feel less stressed when it comes time to actually doing your internship; plus, you’ll have a better chance at interning in a place you like. So, get your feet in the door by reaching out to these companies and expressing your interests. - Do some volunteer work! There are so many opportunities over the holidays on where to do volunteer work. Shelters, soup kitchens, hospitals to list a few. You can add the hours to your resume, but most of all, at the end, you’ll come out feeling like a better human being.
- Practice and polish your interview skills! You can never really be too ready for an interview. It’s a nerve-wracking process especially if you really want that job or to get into that school. So, look up common interview questions and prepare responses that will stand out and impress your interviewer. You can do it!
- Update your Linked-In profile. Linked-in is the largest social media site when it comes to networking. If you don’t have an account, create one and if you do have one, make sure you keep it up to date. And that’s all I have to say about that.
- Clean up your social media accounts! I really cannot emphasize this enough. At this point you’re an adult and you are responsible for the things that show up on your wall or feed. Do you really know all 4,000 of your social media friends? Just because you don’t post anything questionable does not mean they don’t. So, go through the list and figure out who no longer makes the cut.
- Last, but most importantly, enjoy yourself. The holidays are times when you can go home and just enjoy being around your loved ones, eat some home cook meals and de-stress. Don’t forget to do just that.
Nik
My ultimate goal is to have a library in my house and unlimited amount of tropical fruits at my disposal.
