I’ve never been a big fan of the back-to-school season. When August rolled around every year, I found that everyone else was excited to buy new school supplies and return to their classes, while I grasped onto the few remaining days of the summer. Going back to school has never been a smooth transition for me.
Year after year, I always felt that the summer season ended incredibly too soon. I never found myself having that “back-to-school spirit.” June and July came and went and then suddenly I was expected to just jump back into a routine when August arrived. Some years, I felt that so much time had passed that I had forgotten how to hold a pencil, let alone actually go back to school. Spending long summer days with my friends, to spending them at school doing homework was far from a fair tradeoff. The mere thought of going back to school would make me incredibly anxious and send me into a funk.
This year, I’m attempting to change my mindset. Instead of facing the school year with disappointment, like I have most years, I’m putting in the effort to embrace it. I realized that I can either welcome it or reject it, but either way, the beginning of the school year is inevitable. To change my mindset, I recognized what I disliked about the back-to-school season. It wasn’t that I hated school. I remembered how much I enjoy my major and love seeing all my college friends again. The transition from doing nothing for months to springing back into a full schedule is usually what causes me stress.
Therefore, my approach this year is to take one week at a time and only focus my energy on what I have to get done that week. This way, I can finish the tasks at hand without becoming overwhelmed and anxious about other assignments or projects I have coming up. This method has also helped me balance my social life and my studies. One element of summer that I really appreciate is that I can hang out with my friends or have “me time” whenever I please, which is something that often gets overlooked once the school year begins. I find myself focusing all my energy on my coursework and pushing everything else to the side. This year, I’ve made it an active goal of mine to truly put in the effort to see my friends and implement the activities that I’ve enjoyed doing over the summer.
I’ve come to realize that just because the school year is beginning does not mean I have to give up on the things I love doing. Going back to school teaches me how to balance the different elements in my life, from my studies to my social life. This back-to-school season does not have to be a scary and impending one if you embrace it!
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