For some of us, returning to school after a holiday was something worth celebrating, especially because holidays, particularly the long ones, are often very tiring. This is coupled with the fact that staying at home usually involves a lot of work, especially for those of us whose parents own a large farm. Additionally, school offers a degree of freedom that can't be found at home to a significant extent.
A few years ago, when I was still in school, whenever the holidays ended and it was time to return, I felt excited because I was finally leaving the workaholic zone and entering my freedom zone.
As for the techniques I used to transition back to normal school life, they are as follows:
I resume as soon as possible:
As I mentioned earlier, I was always excited to return to school once the holidays were over, and I made sure to resume immediately, either on the first day or the second day of resumption. If I delayed, it was only for a few days, but I always resumed within the first week.
Why the hurry?
The school and course I went through were such that practicals and calculations were the core focus. These subjects, once missed, were hard to catch up on and required extra effort to grasp. The lecturers were also very strict and rarely missed school because they aimed to finish their syllabus on time.
Although some of them took attendance, which they often claimed they would use in continuous assessment, they rarely followed through. Even then, we who were present often filled in attendance for friends who were absent. It wasn’t the attendance that motivated me to resume on time, but the need to catch up early, which was easier than trying to catch up after missing two to three weeks of classes.
Gradual learning:
I was not, and still am not, into all-day reading. I prefer to understand a course practically, so I adopted the principle of learning as it was being taught. As I mentioned earlier, our courses were structured in such a way that once a class was missed, it required extra effort to understand the material. So, I preferred to be there from the start, follow the teachings gradually, and by the end, I would have reduced the need for extra effort to understand.
Getting assurance of good grades:
I won’t lie here; even though the tests done during the first week of resumption were not often used by the lecturers, I liked being present. I liked knowing that I wasn’t missing any opportunity to secure marks, which would give me confidence in achieving good grades at the end of the semester. Funny enough, some of these lecturers, especially those who accepted bribes for grades, did use the scores from these tests. Those who didn’t attend would sometimes be forced to bribe their way to get the marks they missed.
Thanks!
This is in response to the prompt below:
The holiday is always a good time, and we barely want it to end. While it's a must to return to school, many of us as students and parents have developed some smooth transitioning techniques to get ourselves or kids back on track. This week, we do like you to share some of these techniques with us.
