Winter quarter is, in my opinion, the worst quarter at UCLA. The weather becomes unstable, with the temperature suddenly dropping outside, and occasionally UCLA ends up turning into an overflowing river when it rains. Either you did well in the fall quarter and are riding the high of it, or you didn’t do so hot and realize you need to make a real turnaround to recover your GPA. People’s schedules suddenly get ten times busier than last, and it’s dark by 5 pm. Needless to say, winter quarter can be a hard time for a lot of students, and as someone who’s gone through the struggles of winter quarter, I hope to help you through that winter quarter slump.
Give Yourself A Break & Go Outside
As an engineering major, winter quarter is the time when I find myself locking myself inside and studying for hours on end. You might be able to relate to this within your own perspective major. While studying is good and important since we are all here for our degrees at the end of the day, it’s incredibly easy to lose track of time and only go outside to change study locations or get something to eat at the dining hall.
Through your studies, remember to take a moment to rest your mind and go outside when it’s still sunny. With the sun starting to set at 4 to 5pm, and classes running through the day, it’s easy to miss the enjoyment of the sun while it’s still out. Even if it’s dark outside and you live on the hill or in a safe, walkable neighborhood, I recommend that instead of using your study breaks to scroll on your phone, you go outside and take a small walk around the area. It’s important to keep your mind clear, especially when studying, and allowing your body to move will help break some of the stress that might have built up inside. You don’t need to be outside for too long, try to aim for at least 15-30 minutes a day if you find yourself having a more packed schedule.
If you really find yourself finding no time to go outside, then try your best to sit near a window or somewhere that doesn’t feel incredibly isolating. Such as a coffee shop, studying at Tongva, or just moving closer to your dorm window every once in a while.
Break Your Schedule Down Even More
If your schedule is one where you look at your calendar and can’t find any time for yourself, I would advise you to really look at your schedule and make a list of some true non-negotiable things to keep, and things that can be a bit loose. A lot of the time, we can accidentally overload our schedule, which in turn can burn ourselves out when we have too much to do on top of classes. First, start with three to four things that you can not do anything about, so you can’t alter them, this might be classes, a job, or clubs you hold a strong leadership/presence in.
I find this aspect to be the most important thing to prevent an accidental burnout, which results in a slump. It’s incredibly easy to accidentally take on more than you can handle and suddenly feel like everything is a chore.
If you have an hour where you don’t have anything scheduled, take that time for yourself to do something you enjoy and haven’t gotten the time to do so because of how busy you are. Once you break down your schedule by the bare bones, that’s when you can gradually start adding things back into your schedule that make you happy. Remember, your only true job as a college student is to go to class and do your work, everything else is a nice bonus meant to add enrichment to your life, not dread.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help & Remember to Socialize
Winter quarter can be hard on a lot of people’s mental health, and simply changing your schedule around or getting your body moving might not be enough, and that is perfectly normal. During this time of the year, I find myself isolating myself a little bit more than normal, and you might do the same. If you have the willpower, try to get out and talk to the person that’s sitting next to you in class, your roommates, your TAs and professors, your neighbors, the person you see frequently at that one club you go to or even someone you just so happen to walk past.
Talking to people and letting yourself socialize every once in a while can greatly help things feel a little bit lighter than they do, knowing you have someone to help break your schedule. You don’t have to have a crazy long conversation with them if you don’t want to, you can keep it as short and simple as you want or, if you desire to go deeper, then allow yourself to do so.
Humans aren’t meant to operate fully alone long term. We’re social beings that need other human interactions every once in a while to keep our spirits up. Allow yourself to start small and go at your own pace if you’re a bit more shyer and introverted like me. No one is expecting you to fully burst out of your shell on the first go around.
However, if you find yourself struggling more than just what’s on the surface, don’t be afraid to reach out to someone to gather the help you need and deserve. That can be reaching out to your professors and TAs if you’re struggling in your classes, or phoning a loved one to talk about something on a personal level. UCLA has countless resources out there that students can utilize and should when they need help, such as CAPS, Counseling & Psychological Services, if you need to talk to a professional, or CAE, Center for Accessible Education, if you find that you need more academic support, alongside with countless of academic resources around campus.
Winter quarter can be hard, but just know that you’re not the only one going through the dreaded slump, and no one is expecting you to go through it alone. Take some time for yourself by allowing your schedule to be a bit altered and reach out for help if you need it.