What Not to Do: A Veteran Student's Guide to First Week School Survival

As September rolls around, football starts up again, the weather gets slightly cooler, and school is back in session. First time and veteran coeds alike flock to their respective universities, colleges, community colleges, trade schools and otherwise to get and continue to get educated, in hopes of graduation and a real job someday. Whether you're fresh out of the local high school or ripe and rotting here are some back to school DONTS.

1) Don't pay bookstore prices.
Find out what books you need for your classes atleast a couple of weeks prior to class starting. Start early, because the websites are just as busy as the bookstores around this time and it is usually desirable to have the correct textbook by the first week of class. A few useful resources include half.com, amazon.com and if you want to do the footwork, usually people will advertise their old books for sale on campus bulliten boards. Need a graphing calculator, expensive lab equipment or a new laptop? Try Craigslist or the classifieds and for the laptop, possibly a computer resale shop. Be mindfull, take the time to look for bargains, and don't throw yourself into debt if you can avoid it.

2) Don't give in to your habits.
Have a problem waking up for your eight o'clock class, procrastinating with homework, or being careless on papers? Don't let it happen again. A new semester means a fresh start. You don't have to transform yourself into a self will run riot, just think over some areas that could use some improvement before your classes begin and be mindful of those areas. Remember to take it one day at a time. You're aiming to make progress here, not achieve perfection. You will improve more if you are not constantly beating yourself up for here and there slip ups.