Edna Grant
Staff Writer
To prepare for the second semester, during winter break, I make sure that I’m doing the bare minimum. I don’t worry, I don’t stress, and I definitely don’t look at my spring semester schedule. I want total and complete rest.
After we’ve opened all the gifts and eaten all the food at all the different holiday parties though, there’s always a bittersweet awareness of the end. The winter break closes in our senses and we’re faced with the reality that books need to be bought and minds need put into gear for the following semester.
The most treacherous obstacle that many students face is the combination of returning to the grind, surviving the harsh winds of winter, and sticking to the new daily routine with the end of the school year as a minuscule glistening light at the end of a dark tunnel. The transition from holiday festivity to studious resignation takes a toll on countless students every year.
In the past I’ve tested a few ways to battle this overbearing sensation. Some are small mantras, others include campus engagement, but all of them are possible remedies for the post-holiday blues.
One of the simplest methods I’ve encountered was to stop counting. I’m aware that many of us count something, whether we count the weeks of the semester or we set a timeframe for the semester in terms of how many paydays we’ll have by the time finals roll around.
Some of us count the weekends. We count the number of tide-pods we have left and correlate it with how many loads of laundry we can wash before we are able to take it all back home.
Counting, I found, makes that tunnel feel longer. Days or hours in between time-markers seem droll and unrelenting. I decided to stop counting.
When the counting stopped, time-markers such as midterm preparation and graduation announcements became pleasant surprises. Of course, I expected them and prepared for them. It’s a small mind trick that makes the cold months more bearable.
One huge relief came in the form of campus involvement. Joining a club or campus organization has a few remedies of its own. Our days become busier. It is a known fact that the busier we are, the faster our days fly by.
Filling our days with activities can often take our mind off of impending due dates and leave us feeling refreshed and ready to tackle difficult assignments. Clubs also provide us with friendships, which oftentimes speeds the spring semester up by providing us interpersonal connections to campus and exciting activities.
Support groups and friends are easy to find as joining clubs or organizations. Study groups are particularly helpful in finding encouragement and communities of people in relatable situations.
Before I even realized it, April was upon us. While others start decorating their countdown calendars, I tackle assignment after assignment.
Spring semester can be incredibly difficult, but it’s even more difficult when we take the time we have at school for granted. Our time and our actions are what make college memorable, and it really is a pity to waste it.
