Having a Bad Semester? Here's a 6-Step Guide to Turn It Around

So… the semester isn’t going how you pictured it.

You’re behind on readings, your midterm marks came back meh (or worse), and you’ve got that sinking feeling every time you open OnQ. Maybe you’ve been “catching up” for six straight weeks, or maybe life outside academics has been hitting just as hard. Whatever the reason, welcome to the club! We’ve all been there.

But here’s the truth: one bad semester doesn’t define your degree, or your brain, or your future.

It just means things got messy. Messy happens.

Step 1: Pause Before the Panic

When grades start slipping, the first instinct is usually chaos mode: all-nighters, panic-Googling “how to study faster,” and caffeine levels that would scare a cardiologist.

Stop. Take one deep breath. Then another.

One of my personal favourite quotes sums it up perfectly:

“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” - Anne Lamott

Queen’s isn’t designed to be easy. Between 8:30 a.m. lectures, group projects that somehow meet at midnight, and back-to-back club commitments, burnout sneaks up fast. Before trying to fix everything, give yourself a beat to actually feel the frustration. You can’t change direction while sprinting; sometimes the smartest move is to stop running for a minute.

Step 2: Figure Out What’s Actually Not Working

A bad semester doesn’t usually come from just one thing. It’s typically a pileup.

Ask yourself:

Reflection now will also lead to being more proactive in the future!

1. Are your classes genuinely too heavy this term?

2. Did you overcommit to clubs, work, or other extracurriculars?

3. Are you trying to study in places that drain you (looking at you, ARC food court)?

Grab a notebook or your Notes app and list what’s overwhelming you. Not to beat yourself up, just to see it clearly. Sometimes realizing why you’re struggling is enough to make the next steps obvious.

Step 3: Use the Queen’s Safety Nets (They Actually Work)

This is where Queen’s quietly shines.

1. Academic Advising: Book through your faculty site. They can help you withdraw, defer, or restructure your schedule without tanking your GPA.

2. Student Wellness Services: Free counselling, stress-management, and mental health support (no referral needed). You can find the link to Queen's SWS here.

3. Peer Academic Coaching: Real students who’ve been through the same grind and know how to pull a semester back from the brink. Peer Programs at Queen's can be found here.

4. Professor Office Hours: Yes, they exist for a reason. You don’t need a “good” question, even “I don’t know where to start” works. In most cases, details regarding office hours can be found in the course syllabus on OnQ.

   
   

The biggest mistake people make is waiting too long to ask for help. Queen’s is full of people whose literal job is to help you succeed. Use them!

Step 4: Redefine “Locking In”

If your definition of success is “ace everything and never fall behind,” you’re setting yourself up to lose.

This is your permission slip to redefine what locking in means for you this semester.

Maybe it’s:

1. Attending all remaining lectures, even if you don’t take notes perfectly.

2. Finishing one assignment a day, not three.

3. Studying in smaller chunks instead of trying to grind for eight hours straight.

Productivity doesn’t always mean doing more. Sometimes it means doing enough to keep going.

Step 5: Talk to Someone Who Gets It

Here’s a secret: almost no one at Queen’s is cruising through every semester.

Find someone you trust: a roommate, a friend, a prof you actually like and talk about what’s going on. Saying “I’m having a rough semester” out loud takes away half its power. Chances are, they’ve been there too.

Friends supporting each other through the chaos of a Queen’s semester

And if you don’t have someone to talk to right now? Join a study group, go to a drop-in, or even DM us on Instagram. The whole point of Locked In @ Queen’s is to remind you that you’re not the only one trying to get your life together at 2 a.m. in Stauffer.

Step 6: Focus on the Recovery Arc, Not the Report Card

You’re allowed to rebuild at your own pace.

A semester isn’t a verdict. Think of it more as a snapshot. What matters most is how you respond. Re-evaluate what balance looks like for you, set smaller goals, and keep moving forward.

By next term, this one will be a story you tell. Maybe even one that made you tougher, kinder, and way better at handling whatever Queen’s throws next.

Leaving You with This...

I want to end on something that helped me when I was in the exact same place, during a semester that felt impossible to recover from. One night, in a deep YouTube spiral between procrastination and panic, I stumbled on a TED Talk called “Why You Will Fail to Have a Great Career” by Larry Smith.

It’s filmed at the University of Waterloo, but honestly, it might as well have been made for every Queen’s student who’s ever felt like they’re falling behind. Smith’s talk is raw, funny, and brutally honest about fear, perfectionism, and how easy it is to let pressure box us in. It reminded me that failure (or just a rough term) isn’t the opposite of success. It’s the process of figuring out what actually matters.

So if you’re here, reading this post because this semester hasn’t gone your way, I really encourage you to take 10 minutes and watch it. You might just walk away seeing your situation, and yourself, a little differently.