As the holidays approach, tensions are getting high. I know from personal experience that as family functions and events that involve food draw nearer, I feel less inspired to complete my school requirements in favor of personal commitments.
This semester has far different circumstances than any others we have had to face before. In this day and age, instead of waking up early to drive to school – or walk to class if you live on campus – you simply have to wake up in enough time to open your laptop and join the Zoom meeting.
That being said, I find that I have to remind myself that I am paying good money for my degree, and that I should do everything in my power to make the most of it.
Keeping this mindset does not mean obsessing over grades. The value of a person far surpasses that of a grade in any class, and it is never good to set your worth in your work. This mindset means that you will work hard to do your very best in a class, while not neglecting yourself or your duties outside of school.
The problem is that Zoom meetings are exhausting! We go back and forth all day with our screens, from joining classes, to texting, to watching movies and it’s tiresome and draining. Screen time causes a variety of damage to one’s health and energy levels.
Keeping in mind that we are college students and that we have only a small amount of time and even smaller wallets, here are a few things that my fellow students can do to keep their energy and motivation up during the home stretch of this semester.
Take a walk out in the fresh air. No matter where you live, there is always going to be a place where you can walk. Take off your mask when social distancing allows it, and breath in the fresh air. Walking will also help you to burn off some of those holiday calories, so this is a win-win.
Bake something for yourself or your family. Baking is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it provides a good break that produces a good snack.
Speaking of tea, hot drinks are a great thing to have in this lovely autumn weather. Learn how to make your favorite beverage. You do not need a cookbook to do this, just look up the recipes on your phone. There are several recipes for recreated drinks from the most popular coffee shops that are very convincing. You will learn something new and pinch a few pennies in the process by not going out to Starbucks or Dunkin.
My final suggestion is to read a good book. As a writer, there is no better smell on earth to me than that of a book. I think that a lot of people ignore books as being “longer movies”, but screens are what we are trying to avoid here, and a good old-fashioned hardback book is a great remedy to that.
My final piece of advice to my fellow students is to keep on keeping on. We have made it this far in the semester, and these last couple of week in school can make or break us academically. Fight the temptation to quit going to class during the last sliver of the semester and finish strong.
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