| Written by Alexis K. |
Just don’t sign up for one—simple as that! Just kidding. I truly wish it was that simple but, eventually, an advisor is going to talk you into taking an 8 a.m. course. They’ll make it sound like a good idea, and you are going to buy it, just like I did. Or, it’ll be a course you absolutely have to take to fulfill your degree requirements. It might take you until the end of the semester to get used to waking up this early, so I’m going to give you some tips that could help you adjust a little more quickly than I did.
- I know that, for me, it’s a lot easier to wake up/feel awake when the sun is out than when it’s dark outside still. I made the mistake of taking my one and only 8 a.m. during the spring semester, and it was harder than it had to be for me to wake up at 7 a.m. when it was still dark out. Take your 8 a.m. course in the fall semester, if you can, because, during the fall semester, the sun rises earlier than in the spring semester and it might be a little easier to jump out of bed and get going.
- Make sure you are taking an 8 a.m. course taught by an instructor you like or that you’ve heard good things about. Nothing is worse than taking an 8 a.m. course with a boring or an overly-intense instructor. I got lucky because my 8 a.m. course was with an instructor my best friend loved and recommended to me, Emily Wood (shout-out to her for being an awesome instructor). She made class fun, engaging, and dynamic. Some days we would take notes, other days we’d do group activities, and sometimes we’d watch Ted Talks. Class was always different and, some days, I even looked forward to waking up that early. She was also a yoga instructor; so, she turned our last class meeting of the semester into a yoga class! If you are looking to take an 8 a.m. course but neither you nor your friends know the instructor, you can try reaching out on the Rutgers–Camden App by making a post asking if anyone has had the professor and what their thoughts are on them. If you are not comfortable doing that, you can always check out Rate My Professor!
- Go to bed at a decent time the night before your 8 a.m. course. I know it is easier said than done, but there is nothing worse than waking up early after a night of little sleep. Trust me, I learned this the hard way. I would always go to bed late and dread the mornings because I knew I was going to be a zombie. Finally, toward the end of the semester, I got into the routine of showering around 8 p.m., and lying in bed by 9:30 p.m. Even if I didn’t fall asleep for another hour, I gave myself enough time to at least start relaxing and preparing to be asleep at an earlier time. (INSERT SNAPCHAT GIF OF ME with caption “Here is one of my daily snaps to my friends complaining about my 8 am”)
- Coffee or Tea! Whatever your drink of choice may be for the morning, your class will be much more tolerable if you have it on your desk with you. My go-to is a Starbucks grande vanilla iced coffee with cream and sugar, and, let me tell you, the days I had my coffee were the better days of my 8 a.m. course. Coffee or tea can help you feel more awake and alert which can, in turn, help you pay better attention in class. On the days I had my coffee, I was also in much better of a mood, which led to my enjoying class time and wanting to participate.
- Eat a decent breakfast! Sitting in class this early with an empty stomach will just make you more miserable. I am usually the type of person that hates eating early in the morning but I started to notice throughout the semester that I was extra grouchy the mornings I didn’t eat any type of breakfast. Even if it is something small, it will make a difference. My go-to breakfast for my 8 a.m. days was usually blueberry Belvita Breakfast Biscuits, which was enough to keep my stomach happy until I ate something a little larger. Just like the coffee, it gives you a boost of energy, as well, which will improve your mood.
- Dress comfy! My freshman year, I wanted to look cute all the time, do my hair and makeup, and get dressed up. By the time I signed up for my 8 a.m. course, which was the spring of my freshman year, all of that flew out the window. I wanted to maximize my sleep time; so, I cut out the 45 minutes it took to make me look my best and decided to switch out jeans for yoga pants and blouses for sweatshirts. Being comfortable made class more tolerable, too, and having the extra time for sleep made me feel more refreshed when I woke up. Also, not wearing makeup for those days improved my skin, as well!
- Make the most of it. An 8 a.m. can be annoying and seem burdensome but make sure you still take the time to absorb the knowledge given to you during that time (and make sure you actually go). Just like your other courses, you want to get the most out of it. A little saying I always tell myself to get through is, “You are only going to get out of it what you put in.” This is true for all of college, but especially for those 8 a.m. courses!
You can do it; I have faith! After my first 8 am, I swore I would never take one again, and, as I’m approaching my junior year, I still haven’t. Even though I do my best to avoid taking another 8 a.m., I learned valuable lessons from the one I did take and you will, too. Take this tips into consideration from the start so that you don’t have to learn on your own, the hard way, like I did.