As the high from fall break wears off, midterms slow down, and the next month and a half before winter break kicks into gear, I’ve found myself thinking a lot about how (and if) I’m prioritizing myself and my needs. We made it through the first half of semester one (yippie!). In my mind–for some unknown reason–I thought that meant I could relax until finals. However, I was very wrong. While the end of midterms means you’ve survived the beginning of your classes, everything else ramps up and you feel like you’re in full swing. This week alone I have a voice recital, two auditions for theatre productions (along with callbacks), Big Little Week for the theatre club, it’s Halloweekend, I have advisee meetings for spring courses, and I still have a full class schedule and class work (including a long term paper). I’ve now realized this crazy week is just the beginning of the madness. As I step into this new college experience (and some of you do too), I think it’s important we ask ourselves how we are going to make sure we’re doing okay personally in the midst of this upcoming busy season.
One of the best ways to allow yourself time to decompress is with an outlet. My outlet is writing poems or participating in theatrical performances. As we move forward in this semester, I plan to sprinkle my down time with these creative options. Hoping I get a role in the Cocktails, rehearsals and performances will be a great way for me to feel replenished and take my mind off of the other busy requirements of my day. Notice how I mentioned sprinkling things into my free time–not overloading it. Whatever fills your cup, you should allow yourself some of that during your busy weeks; however, don’t overload your schedule with too many extra activities, as this could possibly ruin the things you enjoy for yourself.
Another way I know I will be taking care of myself during these busy times (and encourage everyone to do as well!) is to attend bi-weekly counseling sessions. Here at Bucknell, we offer free counseling for all students. I’ve only had three appointments since I began school here in August, but I’ve already seen a difference in my thoughts, improvement of stress levels, and understanding of how to manage this new time in my life. Therapy is for everyone, and you don’t need to be at rock bottom to tell someone how you’re feeling. Therapy can be a great way to simply talk to someone who’s unbiased and will offer you practical and honest advice.
Lastly, the best thing we can all do for ourselves right now is to rest our bodies and mind. By that, I mean we all need to sleep. I know how difficult and annoying it can be to tear yourself away from both the late night academic and social scene to sleep, but to function during the day at our highest capacity, it’s very important we get a full night’s rest. I started the year strong, making sure I was in bed at nine, ready for sleep every night. However as I made friends, joined clubs, and started to go out more, it became a lot harder for me to say no to staying up. I’d want to have a sleepover in my friend’s dorm, or dress up and go downtown for two nights in a row, play basketball at ten pm with friends, or even just stay up way too late doom scrolling under my covers. Although some of these things were feeding my social battery, they were all draining my functional battery. As we move into the next part of this semester let’s always remember it’s important to work hard and play harder, but to work hard or even play hard, we have to be able to get out of bed in the morning.
Prioritizing ourselves and making sure we’re listening to our bodies is the best way to ensure we actually enjoy these next few weeks. Moving into the holiday season should bring joy and excitement, not doom and dread. Let’s take care of ourselves–and encourage others too as well–by putting our mental and physical health at the top of our priority list.