How do you practice self care on campus where self care truly doesn’t exist?
Self Care. Two words. 8 letters.
Two words that are used so often on this campus to the point of annoyance. Our Faculty Deans tell us self care is important. Our professors and TFs occasionally remind us to get enough sleep because it is important to make sure we are taking care of our bodies. As students, we discuss self care within our organizations and clubs. I even notice myself preaching about how much I care about self care. But do we really?
I preach about self care at the same time that I miss meals because I’m in class, at work, or in another meeting. I preach about self care when I barely get 8 hours of sleep each night. I preach about self care even though I am constanly exhausted and this exhaustion is more than just physical.
How can I practice self care when every 10 minute nap that turns into an hour feels like wasted time? How can I practice self care when even taking an 30 minutes to eat seems like too much? How can I practice self care when I’m expected to go to class, be involved in extracurriculars, do recruiting, do all my readings, be social, and somehow do it all perfectly? How can i practice self care on a campus that expects me to have my life all figured out even though I have barely made it to 20 years of age?
I’m just tired.
I don’t understand how Harvard can preach self care when in practice that is not a reality. Maybe part of the problem is the student body and how we perpetuate this culture. Maybe it’s the admin that don’t offer actual changes on campus to allow us to practice self care. I don’t know what it is, but I’m tired of hearing the phrase self care and no practical ways of practicing it.
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