Being in an environment where you are surrounded by people and activities every day is both exhilarating and exhausting. In addition to schoolwork, finding time for friends and family, and making time for yourself can be a challenge. Personally, I am an introvert. I thrive the best when I have time every day to be completely by myself and away from the chaos around me. I’m not going to lie, it is difficult to find time for myself because I do love to be around people, but sometimes I am going and going so much that I burn out and drain myself. This happened a lot in my first year of college because I did not know when to stop. Now, having been in school for a couple of years, I have realized that I deserve to find peace every day.
For me, peace is lying on my bed and closing my eyes, or reading a book, or even just doomscrolling on social media for an hour. Peace is whatever you want it to be. For some, it may be going out with people and being in the presence of others, but for others of us, we need to be alone to feel connected to our mind, soul, and body again. Often, I feel selfish for taking time away from my family and friends so I can recharge, and in all honesty, I still struggle with setting boundaries with myself so I can have my little pockets of peace every day. It is important to surround yourself with people who respect your need to be alone. In college, it’s challenging to find time alone because many of us have roommates and or share a room. I struggled my first year of college because my bed has always been my safe space, and where I can find my peace and recharge. When you have a roommate who is in and out of the room, it is difficult to recharge by yourself. I handled this during my first year by finding places where I could recharge other than my bed. One of those places is the outdoors. Going for a walk, getting sun on my face, and feeling the fresh air would always instantly recharge my body, and I always felt better and more ready to conquer the day after I got to go outside. Finding a park bench, a chair in your dorm lounge area, or even a spot at the library is extremely important when you are an introvert surrounded by people 24/7.
As I am getting older, I am still learning how to navigate these challenges. Balancing yourself, friends, school, work, and so much more can get exhausting. That is why it is so important sometimes to put your load down for even just five minutes, take a breather, and do something to find your peace, because you deserve to feel refreshed, rested, and revitalized.