How Your Schedule May Affect Your Grade

This blog was written by Kathryn Tromba, our Campus Ambassador from the University of Central Florida. She is currently interning at Vantage Communications in Orlando.

It was about 7 P.M. The sun was setting and it wasn’t even hot outside, but I could still feel the sweat drip down my back as I walked into my Statistics class for our first test of the semester. I had studied for what felt like forever, but knew I wasn’t prepared. Have you ever tried teaching yourself math the night before the test? It isn’t so easy. Needless to say, I didn’t do so well on that first test.

My problem was that I didn’t go to class. It wasn’t my laziness that was the issue, though. It was the time of the class. I had no problem going to all my other classes; it just so happened that these classes were in the middle of all the fun! They always seemed to be right when my best friends decided to go out for sushi together. And I love sushi. Besides that, the fact that it got out at 9:50 P.M. didn’t help either. I’m in COLLEGE! I wanted to go out at night, not be stuck in class missing all the fun! So I’d always make the wrong decision and not go.

So now as an older and wiser student, I’ve made sure not to schedule any of my classes during times that I something more exiting will be going on.

So, let my bad grade on that Statistics test be encouragement for you to plan your schedule accordingly. If you like to sleep in and go out at night, plan your classes for the afternoon. If you like having the whole day to do the things you need to do and don’t mind waking up early, schedule them for the morning. You’d be surprised at how much going to class affects your grade. I’m positive that if I would have scheduled my Statistics class in the late afternoon, I would have gotten a better grade. After all, showing up is half the work.