It’s that time of year again, most students have moved back in and classes are getting ramped up for another semester of hard work. Excited or not about the upcoming semester, it’s almost undeniable that moving back in after our long break will mean a significant change in lifestyle for most students.

For myself, and plenty of others, that means substituting my Christmas habits of sleeping in until noon with a renewed work ethic and study discipline. However, making that change is never as easy as I hope, even just switching mindsets from Thanksgiving into finals was a surprisingly difficult challenge. For the next two weeks, students — especially first-years — need to be aware of the challenges that come during this time of year and must not fall for the New Year slump.

Mess up now and the consequences will haunt you for years to come. The beginning of the semester is when the foundation for classes is laid. What is learned in the next two weeks is what will be built on in future classes, miss it and you will be two steps behind for the rest of the semester. It cannot be overstated how critical this time is for all students.

I would know too, I myself couldn’t get back into the swing of things after winter break freshman year and ended up spiraling into the least productive mindset I have ever been in. I skipped classes that didn’t require attendance often and my work ethic was so poor that by the time I got my head back on straight it was already too late for some of my classes. A year later, I still have to deal with the consequences of my actions in the time following winter break.

Chalk it all up to over-enrolling in classes after the fall semester, a particularly lazy winter break, the long-term effect of finals exhaustion, or all of the above — it doesn’t matter, If I could re-do freshman year I would have made a more graceful transition into the spring by taking fewer classes and exercising some healthy skepticism in my academic limits.

However, no one needs to make my mistake over again. Students have until January 18 to freely drop classes from their schedule and to take only what is needed. So don’t be afraid to strategically drop some classes for the upcoming semester. Personally, I only have 12 credit hours for the spring, since that’s the minimum to be a full-time student.

Taking fewer classes in one semester doesn’t mean compromising a student’s academic trajectory either. Missing out on a few credit hours now can easily be made up for by taking a summer course, which spreads out your workload to a more feasible level and makes more time for a year-round job, as opposed to a seasonal one. Personally, I love these courses, and if you want to plan ahead, registration is already open.

In its most literal sense, the goal of being a student here is to leave this university with a degree, ideally with a decent GPA. Achieving that goal the way everyone else does is just one option. Don’t let your ego get the better of you by over-enrolling this semester, consider exploring options like summer classes that NC State offers for getting a degree in four years, and overall don’t fall into a New Year slump.