The holidays are long over, but the snowy welcome back has left Athens in a winter break slumber that a lot of us are having a hard time shaking. Drop/add lasted for three months (basically), bars keep tempting us away from schoolwork with snow day specials, and so the slump continues. The lack of structure in our schedules might be comforting for the meantime, but has it made us forget what time of year it is?
Resolutions time–that’s what time it is. It’s the one month where people across the world actually adhere to those schedules they tediously dictate and check off every item on their three page to-do lists. It’s the time of year when closets get filled with “goal weight clothing,” and fitness centers doors burst open every morning and struggle to push patrons out at night. With all of the delay to UGA’s spring semester this year, you may have trouble finding the motivation to start your year off right. If so, you’re not alone.
But now it’s time to buckle down and actually concentrate on making spring 2011 a great semester. Here are a few New Year’s resolutions you may have made, and tips on how to keep them:
1. Get in shape. Ramsey can be a big b****, especially at the start of the New Year. Parking isn’t free until 4 pm, and then waves of cars rush to get the few parking spots that actually exist. And if you finally manage to park and get in, every machine you want to use is full. The employees say there is a time limit, but you know that girl reading her 700 page biology book on the elliptical isn’t planning on getting off any time soon. And the boy next to her who is sweating like crazy appears to have forgotten the towel he could use to clean the machine when he’s done. You might as well just turn around and leave.
I’ve learned a little about using Ramsey in my years at UGA, and I consider myself kind of an expert at finding the opportune times to get there so you don’t have to deal with all of these people.
- Take a risk and go early in the morning. Just make sure that it’s either too early for the crazy parking police to be out and about, or late enough that they have already made their rounds. However, this is definitely taking a risk. No matter what, if you’re there before 4pm your car is subject to ticketing.
- Get there an hour before closing time. If you stay up late, this is the best solution for you. Ramsey closes at 11pm, and everyone starts to clear out about an hour and a half before that. You pretty much have free reign of both levels.
- Be there exactly at 4:00. Plan to arrive at Ramsey exactly at 4 pm so you can go inside and claim your machine right when they open the doors.
- Use the indoor track instead of a treadmill or other cardio machine. The bikes, treadmills and ellipticals are ALWAYS busy. Fewer people use the track, so head upstairs, turn on your iPod and do a few laps.
[pagebreak]
2. Get a job.The job hunt in Athens can be extremely discouraging. The town is pretty small, and the school is huge. Which means there are thousands of other broke college students trying to get hired. Every bar, restaurant and retail store you enter turns you down. How are you supposed to support your downtown habits with the small allowance your dad (sometimes) puts in your bank account?
- Look on DAWGlink. DAWGlink is a website through the Career Center that shows you job listings according to your interests and abilities. You can usually find at least one opportunity there that you will enjoy (or at least tolerate for the paycheck).
- Ask friends. If your friend works at a restaurant downtown, ask her if they are looking for a new employee. Usually businesses are more likely to look into your application if you are connected to someone they know.
- Try and try again. Do not give up the first time an employer rejects (or ignores) your application. If you want the job, stay on top of them until they either make it clear that they don’t need/want to hire you (which there’s no reason they shouldn’t want to hire you—you’re awesome), or they let you be part of their team!
3. Get more involved on campus.UGA has too many campus involvement opportunities to ignore. The amount of opportunities can be both overwhelming and intimidating, but here’s how to make it exciting instead.
- Look up what’s happening on UGA’s website. You can learn a lot about what’s going on around campus from the master calendar of events on the UGA website. The homepage of uga.edu will always have an events section, and at the bottom you can find a link to the master calendar. Browse the calendar and take note of upcoming events that interest you.
- Actually read the flyers people hand out around campus. It’s pretty annoying to walk through Tate plaza and have ten different people stop you to hand you a flyer about something or other when you’re just in a hurry to get to class. But don’t ignore those people; they could be inviting you to something really cool (like a swim meet—meeeow).
- Enlist a friend. You’re much more likely to attend group meetings or a campus event if a friend is depending on you to go with them. So tell a friend about an upcoming club meeting you want to check out. Both of you will feel bad ditching, and you’ll find yourselves side-by-side at the meeting.
Apart from all of this, an easy way to ensure you keep up with your resolutions is to make a list and place it in a spot where you will see them every day. Tape them to your mirror, hang them beside your bed, and smack them in middle of the refrigerator door. Constantly seeing the physical list will motivate you to stay on track with your goals.
So let’s forget this snowy slump ever happened and really try to make 2011 ten times better than 2010 (which should be a real feat—how can we top Bieber fever?).