How to Succeed in College – My One-Day Diary in the Dorm and Class Socially Distanced

This is my one-day diary of a day in the life of a serious college student – me.  You could call it my primer on how to succeed and stay focused in college during the COVID-19 pandemic. We all are living socially distanced in the dorm, or at home. So, seriously, here is how I do it.

I was thinking about how I live in the COVID-19 education environment, and how you can try to succeed with learning during the pandemic. After all, remote education provides increasing challenges for my entire generation worldwide. With governments lurching here and there, one day opening up everything and the next day closing, how do real people navigate it?

Here is my one-day story.  I’m a college student. Fortunately I got through elementary, middle and high school before the pandemic struck. It is so much more difficult for kids forced out of schools at a younger age – both due to poorer learning, and impaired social development. It is even worse for those with disabilities as many schools are falling behind in providing adaptive learning and accommodations that they need to succeed.

With all these challenges, I have been wanting to do this for a while. It all started over the summer, when I was taking a course online. I thought it could be helpful for everyone to do a diary on a typical day in the life of a college student during COVID-19. So, as soon as the new semester began I started planning for this one. My schedule obviously is very different from last year. For example, I only have one in-person class when normally all my classes are in person. Despite that, I decided to live in a dorm, on campus, as my college made good provision for less-dense housing and I felt like it would be best for me to be around others my age. 

Wake-up

I typically like to get up early to get a good head start on the day during the week. That way I can be productive rather than sleeping in. In fact, the whole remote-learning environment has given me the chance to get a lot of my homework and lab work done in the mornings so I can be less stressed later on. 

Breakfast

For breakfast I had some scrambled eggs and some potatoes.  It was delicious and a great start to the day.

Walk Around Campus

I try to do some physical activity every day.  After all, sitting around the dorm eating snacks all day would not work … but then again I love to take walks around the beautiful campus. I developed my love for walks when I was at my parents’ house for a few months when the coronavirus pandemic first hit. So, I decided to take this to college as well. I find this can be very relaxing, and try to do walks or dance every day.

Make A Schedule

One of the most important things to succeed during the remote learning period is to remain disciplined about lectures and homework. So I write out a schedule of everything I need to do for that day. This serves to organize my thoughts and figure out what I need to do. This may include online lectures, science labs, homework, or even scheduling out getting Coffee Bean with a friend. That doesn’t mean I can not change the schedule later on if something comes up, but at least I have some expectation for the day.

Classes

I usually have at least one virtual class a day. I try to keep to the schedule, and do it online, take notes and get a lot done.

Snack Time

I went over to the campus grocery store to pick up some snacks for latter on in the day.

Late Lunch – Sushi

For lunch I picked up a make your own sushi bowl from my favorite place on campus. It has rice, salmon, cilantro, cucumber, and creamy cilantro sauce. It was ok but it did not have enough fish. Last year they were a lot better. I watched my favorite Netflix show over lunch.

Library

Decided to go to the library for a little bit before getting ready for class. I like to get out of my room for a bit and get some work done.

Get ready for class

Now it is time to get ready for my only in person class. I ate a snack and touched up my hair and makeup before heading out.

Class time

I have only one live class this semester, and it is my favorite. I deliberately scheduled this one for a live section, since it covers food and beverage management. We learn about front  of the house operations, and back of the house, and even go into the kitchen lab and do food prep. It has been interesting so far a lot of fun. 

Dinner

I got a really good chicken with a ginger based sauce and veggies.  I forgot what it was called but it was was super good. I had never tried it before.

Bedtime

Well everything has to come to an end.

I hope everyone enjoyed this article. See you next time.