As we head back to Kenyon from a (hopefully relaxing) Thanksgiving Break and start preparing for finals, it’s easy to get caught up in the stress of school again. However, it’s also important to stop and take some time for yourself. No matter how much work you have to do, you can take a bit of time out of your day to just relax a little. Whether it’s reading for half an hour before bed (books that you want to read for fun, remember those?) or watching an hour of your favorite TV show on Netflix, you will feel a lot better after taking the time to recharge and relax. It will even make you more focused when you have to go back to your impending schoolwork.
Though I imagine it’s still difficult as upperclassmen, when you’re a freshman it can be especially hard to learn to balance all of the exciting new things in college. Between the extra homework, wanting to spend time with new friends, getting involved in tons of extracurricular activities, and trying to go to all of the events on campus that look interesting (not to mention making sure you get a decent amount of sleep), it can feel like you don’t have enough hours in the day to do it all. It’s really easy to get overwhelmed here, especially when you’re the only one deciding what to do with your time. And when you’re stressed, it’s easy to skimp on taking time for yourself. When you finally make it back to your dorm after studying for hours, all you want to do is fall asleep. Or maybe you feel like you should spend all of your free time hanging out in the lounge with your hall mates. Living with so many people your own age, there can be a lot of social pressure to always hang out with people. Sometimes, however, it’s just nice to have some alone time. It’s okay to occasionally say no to hanging out, getting started on that next project, or going to that extra meeting to just sit and relax for a few minutes. Make yourself some tea, read a good book, and let yourself recharge. I promise you’ll feel better for it.