studying Archives - Write Track Admissions
How to Stay Motivated as a Student: Checking in on Your Well-Being
Are you having trouble feeling motivated enough to finish out the school year? If so, you may need to examine your overall well-being. Here’s how to do a mid-semester wellness check-in:  

Wellness for Students

Wellness is not taught to students, so many times we feel like we are only surviving from semester to semester. Society’s constant need to work is causing ‘getting by’ day after day to become a dangerous norm. According to the BBC, overworking is actually killing people. It has become the largest occupational killer. Overworking causes a fight or flight response in the human nervous system.  We must stop these bad habits as students, to prevent ourselves from becoming victims to this socially acceptable way to die. Therefore, thriving must be our goal because surviving is no longer enough. As students, we must look at ourselves as whole beings and not just as work machines. A focus on wellness is the way to do this.  Understanding wellness also gets us away from the toxic side of self-love culture. It is a holistic approach that allows us to look inwardly and outwardly at ourselves. To get started on a wellness check-in there are four questions that I like to ask myself:
  1. How am I doing physically? 
  2. How am I doing socially?
  3. How am I doing emotionally? 
The answer to these questions will add up to give us an answer for how we are doing with our overall well-being. This may help in decerning what is the root of the motivation struggle.   

Physically

Physical wellness is ensuring that the best decisions are being made when it comes to taking care of our bodies. Most people choose one or two parts of their physical well-being to focus on and overlook the rest. Neglecting one of them will most likely harm the effects of another. Physical Wellness includes (but is not limited to): 
  • Nutrition
  • Physical activity 
  • Sleep
  • Skincare 
  • Haircare
  • Water intake 
  • Blue light screen time
 

Socially

UC Davis has a helpful guide to social wellness. Social wellness is cultivating meaningful relationships with proper boundaries and trust. As well as,  showing respect to everyone in your life. Social wellness includes (but is not limited to):
  • Proper Boundaries
  • Cultivating healthy relationships
  • Participating regularly in social interactions
  • Trying new activities
  • Meeting new people
  • Knowing and using your support system
 

Emotionally

How well we are able to handle feelings and emotions while adapting to changes and stresses in life is the core of emotional wellness according to the National Institutes of Health. College is a time of transitions and unknowns, so stress, anxiety, and depression are issues for college students. This is especially true after the pandemic. PBS News reported that 1 in 4 college students have considered suicide. Taking care of our emotional health is what we must do to continue living. Emotional Wellness includes (but is not limited to): 
  • Stress levels 
  • Happiness 
  • Coping with change
  • Acceptance of emotions
  • How you treat others 
  • The perspective you have of yourself
  • Managing difficult emotions
  • Having a purpose in life
  • Positive/negative self-talk
  • Gratitude 
  • Having a safe space to process
  • Getting professional help for mental illnesses
  In school, we will not be successful when these areas are off. If physical wellbeing is neglected then our brain has less capacity to process information. Our self-esteem plummets when our social lives are not healthily maintained. In addition, we will not have the necessary social skills to succeed in our professional life. Our emotional health can often be the foundation of our well-being, as unaddressed mental struggles can affect our functioning in life. So, as students, we need to check in with ourselves and make sure that we are wholistically doing well. If we are not, there are steps that we can take to get better. Stay on the lookout for more blogs discussing how to improve in each of these areas.     ~ Victorie Norman | WTA Communications Director
Staying Competitive in COVID – How MBA students can keep up with jobs during COVID
Reading Time: 5 minutes     There is no doubt that COVID-19 has had a drastic impact on the job market. In fact, the Economic Policy Institute has already stated that the impact will continue to be most noticeable in the leisure and hospitality, social spending, manufacturing, and education and health services sectors, with the private sector taking the biggest hit.    As we face this general econ economic downturn, many will be faced with the J-O-B question – that is, how will they apply for a job like they had previously planned, and how will they stay competitive when doing so, in light of COVID-19?   According to the Economic Policy Institute, the first thing to note is the change in ongoing MBA programs. Business schools have moved to online instruction, shut down global and on-campus events, and taken a hiatus on MBA admissions events everywhere. This will likely set back future applicants, while also posing challenges to current MBA students as they struggle to capitalize on their education which has taken such a drastic change. It is also inevitable that alongside MBA admissions activities, the MBA job market, which was once overflowing with opportunities, will face a harsh downturn, as jobs in general are put on hold in favor of quarantine.    This does not mean the job hunt must come to a grinding halt for MBA students. Here are Write Track Admissions’ top things to do in quarantine to help you remain competitive in the job market:   

1. Be resourceful. There are still job opportunities that you may not think exist. Here are just some of the sectors that are actively hiring: The Government, Medical Device Companies, Essential Retailers (i.e. pharmacies, grocery stores), Delivery Service Providers, Online Health Services. There is also a comprehensive list of start-ups hiring And here are just some of the larger companies that are actively recruiting:

 

2. Ask for informational interviews via Zoom or Google Hangouts, or a different video/calling platform. Even if a company is not hiring, you can still get your name on their radar by conducting an informational interview from home. If you want to learn more about how to get your foot in the door, check out Write Track’s recent Linkedin Live on How to Stand Out and Get Hired in the Corona Economy!

 

3. Apply for funding. If you’re worried about continuing to fund your MBA career and subsequent job search period, apply for industry specific funds or lower-tier fellowships.

 

4. Take some time to sit back and plan. If you can enter into your job search with a clear path, it will set you out as having forethought and staying active while facing a challenge (aka a global pandemic).

 

5. Be innovative and entrepreneurial, and try to address a need that will likely continue well after this crisis. After all, these companies did just that in the last economic crisis and now many are helping us weather this current one:

  If you are still feeling unsure of how to navigate the MBA job market due to the effects of COVID-19, contact Write Track Admissions for help!   Aly Hartman,  Communications DirectorWrite Track Admissions
6 Pro-Tips for Studying at Home – From an actual college student studying at home
Read Time: 5 minutes   As an overworked Junior in college, my first reaction to classes moving online was “YES! I get to lay in bed for class!” I quickly realized that this was not all positive, and that I would likely struggle a lot more outside of the classroom due to the lack of formal structure and the inherent disconnect that would come with online learning. However, after a few weeks of online classes, I have come up with a few tips that have helped me immensely:   

#1: ORGANIZE YOURSELF

A planner, a printable schedule template, or Google calendar are absolutely essential. For each class, identify what you need to do and when you’re going to do it. Creating a regular schedule for your coursework will allow you some sense of rhythm and normalcy. It will also ensure that you are on top of all the different learning modalities that are being used. Scheduling out your days ensures that you know when you need to be present for synchronous instruction, to attend online office hours, or do digital group work. All these still exist and matter, even if you’re partaking behind a computer screen.   

#2: STUDY SPACE (most of the time)

Research has shown that it’s easier to recall information if you’re in the same place where you first learned it, so it can be a good idea to create a dedicated work space at home. However, being that you are likely to be stuck at home, it’s important to get a little variety in the spaces you are spending large amounts of time in, less you develop cabin fever. In order to find what sort of space is going to work best for you, really do some thinking about how you functioned at school. Did you accomplish different tasks more easily in one environment than another? How can you best recreate that ideal working environment now? Here are a few quick tips to make at home studying more palatable: buy a comfortable work chair, make sure everything is ergonomically fitted (even if it’s DIY), and invest what you can in a solid internet connection!  

#3: TAKE NOTES

Online class! Great! That means I can sit back and just listen while I lay in bed! Wrong. Taking notes on recorded lectures, assigned videos, readings, podcasts, etc is essential to retaining the information. Implementing some formalized note taking strategy can also help bring a little structure to the out-of-classroom learning. You can even use a program like Microsoft One to take notes on different subjects in an organized fashion.  

#4: TAKE IT ONE TASK AT A TIME

Multitasking seems all well and great, but research has shown that when we multitask, especially in an academic setting, we end up being less productive, pay less attention, and recall less information. When we’re learning online, this is only amplified. Staying focused on one thing allows you to absorb more information and complete assignments more successfully. One well-proven system of accomplishing this is the Pomodoro Method, which postulates that you should focus in 25-40 minute periods with 10 minute breaks.   

#5: CONNECT WITH CLASSMATES

Your peers are in the same boat as you are, and are likely experiencing the same struggles as you. If you thrive off of the group environment of a classroom, connect with your classmates via Facebook group, WhatsApp, Slack, or another platform to share insights and support each other. And try as much as possible to leverage video conference platforms such as FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangouts, Skype or whatever to actually see, not just hear, your peers.   

#6:  COMMUNICATE WITH INSTRUCTORS

Be sure to ask questions and take advantage of opportunities to connect with your instructors through email, office hours, and class. Ask for help when you need it. Online courses can vary quite a bit. Some may rely largely on the discussion boards to further your learning while others make heavier use of group projects, individually-written papers or collaborative problem sets. Be sure to reach out using any of the methods your professor makes available, just as you would if you were in class. Also, Learning Management Systems (LMS) are being used all across the board during this time, so make sure you feel comfortable with the tools your professor is using whether it be Canvas, Blackboard or another LMS related software. This can help you truly make the most out of the class and the course materials.   While this list is by no means exhaustive, it should be able to give you a few pointers to assist you as you navigate studying from home.    If you still find yourself struggling, contact info@writetrackadmissions.com for help.    Aly Hartman, Santa Clara University ‘21 Communications DirectorWrite Track Admissions