5 Things To Do During The First Week Back At Grad School

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Now that the holidays are over and winter break has either ended or is ending, it’ll be back to grad school full-time for second semester. Being on vacation is awesome as you get to relax and take a step back from your work, which makes going back to school after time off difficult.

Here are five things to do during your first week back at grad school to make the first week more enjoyable and lessen the blow of break being over.

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1. Catch up with friends. The first week of being back at grad school after a break, especially a longer one around the holidays, is the perfect time to catch up with friends. You’ve probably got plenty of stories — about your family, the holiday, what you did, if you traveled, etc. — so grabbing a coffee or dinner with friends and exchanging vacation tales is a great way to ease the transition back to school.

Plus, if you got your friends any mementos from home or your travels or if you brought them a belated holiday gift, you can give it to them while you catch up.

2. Keep your New Year’s resolutions. Maybe this year will be the one when you don’t break your New Year’s resolutions right away — or at all! The first week back at grad school is sure to be busy but it’s important to take some time for yourself — which most resolutions typically seem to be about.

So if your resolution was that you’d exercise more, eat healthier, go to sleep earlier, learn something new, volunteer, or something else completely, start the year as you mean to continue it and establish a routine in your first week back after break that allows you to keep your resolution(s).

Figure out what day or night in your grad life schedule is the most flexible and set that as the day you’ll definitely keep or do whatever your resolution was.

3. Get organized. As you know from first semester, the first week of a new term is busy as syllabuses are handed out, textbooks have to be bought or rented, readings have to be managed, and you need to adjust to a new schedule of classes and responsibilities.

But even though the first week of school may be busy, it’s also typically the least crazy of the semester, which is good as it will allow you to get organized in preparation for the upcoming term. Unpack from your break, sort through your mail, clean your apartment, do laundry if need be, get whatever folders, notebooks, and school supplies you’ll need for the semester and spend the first week of class getting organized so your semester will go off without a hitch.

You may not have time once the semester really kicks off and will have to prioritize schoolwork and other duties and necessities so start off the semester with an organized apartment, clean clothes, and fresh supplies.

4. Throw a back-to-school party. Coming back to grad school after break is the perfect time to throw a back-to-school party since everyone will be around, most people will have the least amount of work and preparation to do for classes, and everyone will be eager to see each other.

Plus, being home for the holidays may result in your friends coming back with some yummy home-baked goodies or some extra cash in their pocket, so you can make your back-to-school party a potluck or split party prep among your friends so you don’t have to do everything.

5. Make plans for your next vacation. Of course, going back to school after break is bittersweet, and mostly bitter as you no longer have all day to yourself to do whatever strikes your fancy and hang out at home with family and friends. So to make the first week back at school a little more enjoyable, start making plans for your next vacation.

If you have time off during the spring, begin looking into cool destinations, airfare, cruises, etc. so you can get good deals by booking far in advance, and coordinate with other friends to travel together. You can even start doing some preliminary scouting for summer vacation if you want to plan a longer trip.

So spend your first week back at grad school doing some or all of these five things — in addition to attending classes — to make going back to school a little more enjoyable. You’ve got a whole semester ahead of you, so take some time during your first week back to do something for yourself that’ll help get you back into “grad school” mentality AND be happy to be there.

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