October is right around the time when everyone is stressed out about balancing midterms, their social lives, and sleep. Putting all of your extra time and effort into being a well-rounded person can lead to you being burned out. Remembering to make time for self-care can alleviate at least some of the stress that is inevitable during midterm season.
- get POWER from your power naps.
At the moment, I’m too busy to have a job while being a student and being involved in extracurricular activities. After classes, I find myself immediately wanting to power nap for about two or three hours. The major problem with this is that my “power nap” leaves me feeling even more drained, and I end up with added stress because I could’ve been studying or doing homework during the time I was asleep. Don’t get me wrong, napping is good! Sometimes you’re too fatigued to read the Epic of Gilgamesh or memorize the formula for GDP. But, an actual length of a power nap is between 20 to 30 minutes at max. Napping like this is difficult and you might think you’ll end up even crankier, but an ideal nap should leave you refreshed and able to get sleep that night.
- remind yourself that you are N O T your G P A.
Trust me, I get the fact that we are paying money that we don’t have for these classes. But if you let your classes and homework and tests become your identity, when you fail something you’ll inevitably attribute it to some aspect of yourself being wrong. This can lead to school becoming your image, and that’s simply not true because you are so much more than a student. More often than not, when people ask who we are, after our name we say “I’m a __ at Georgia Southern University” (or whatever school you go to). Why is that so? Remember that you are an individual with talents and dreams and cute quirks about you that are so much more than a number. Understanding this about yourself will motivate you to simply try your best in all that you do, and gain satisfaction from knowing that you did all you could do.
- remember to have fun!!
We pay student fees for all of the fun activities on campus! We make it happen! Enjoy them! It’s homecoming season, and as a freshman, I did not go to one homecoming event. It’s so important to make memories (that you won’t regret) while you can, because one day you’ll look back and wish you had. It’s so important to get enough sleep and make good grades, but don’t let these four years feel like a job, have a good time!
Just remember during any season of your college life to take a step back when things are stressful and just breathe. Remind yourself that this is just a season, do not let your light fade away before the season does.
May my words be like a love letter to you,
xo, LaVonna