Japanese Student Blogger Haruna Matsuoka Shares Stress Management and Study Tips While Balancing SRJC Life and University Transfer Plans

May has started! Many of my friends and myself at Santa Rosa Junior College are getting busy because finals are coming up. I’ve got a lot of assignments and exams. I am going to show how I study for it.

How many finals do you have?

This question is the most common one among students now. Some students say 1 or some students say 5. The numbers of finals are different depending on students or majors. However, our stress level is the same. Personally, I have my on-campus job, getting ready for transferring to 4-years university, and a lot of things are overwrapping so it makes me nervous and the time for studying is limited. It is very hard to maintain the balance and catch up everything, but this problem is not only for me. All of the students face these problems and tackle them.

How do you organize the busy schedule?   

I always make a to-do list. A daily to-do list and weekly to-do list. Then, prioritize the urgent or close to deadline or heavy work. My studying environment is important as well. You can go to the library or favorite café to focus on your homework or preparing for exams. If you already have a study group, you can support each other and it leads to improving your grade or score!

It is important to take breaks.

My sign to take a break is when I have a bad posture. If your shoulders are inward, it’s time to take a break! I like to exercise so I always go walk for a couple of minutes, run, and take a power nap (good video is here).

Haruna Matsuoka from Japan is studying sports medicine at Santa Rosa Junior College in California.