Hello, hello! I’m 4/c Gigi Edmondson, from Marlborough, Massachusetts. When I got into USCGA, I used to scour these blog posts and read every single one hoping for some advice or insight about what to do with myself once I got here. I got a lot of really great tips from these posts, so today I wanted to talk a little bit about the things I wished I had figured out from these posts before I got here, namely: organization.
I knew this was going to be a really challenging scholastic environment, but I had absolutely no clue what a crazy, hectic schedule we all keep, especially as 4/c. If I could go back in time, I would beg fresh-out-of-Swab me to PLEASE GET A PLANNER!!! I finally crumbled around the 4th week of the school year and bought a weekly planner, and I am now a total convert. It’s so relaxing to be able to look exactly at what your week is going to look like, and be able to write down extra commitments as they come.
I log my exams, big homework assignments, and duty weeks in advance, so when I sit down on Sunday and start writing out my classes I know what’s coming up and where I need to be. My sister bought me some really cool colorful pens and highlighters, so now my planner is fun and colorful too! I really cannot recommend staying on top of things by writing them down enough.
Thanks to my planner, I haven’t forgotten little things like Comp Chomp or Meal Security, when I know I absolutely would have missed those before.
