TikTok. Instagram. Pinterest. Snapchat, even. These platforms idolize the idea of romanticizing one’s life. To look at life through an aesthetically pleasing lens. A delusional and unrealistic one, unfortunately. In retrospect, however, we do find that when we look at life this way, it’s much more enjoyable, especially when we, as students, have to balance out every emotion and experience in the book. Personally, the goal of romanticizing my life gets pulled away from my eyes when I realize that college is stressing me out. I find myself digging my own grave when I have not even started the week. I stress about assignments and tests that I do not leave room to cope and thus, get overwhelmed. This often leads to procrastination and feeling off for the rest of the week. It was not until I took a whole weekend to myself that I realized that I need to be responsible and build a flexible routine that can help me have a realistic, yet, romanticized view on life.
In that weekend and my experimentation throughout the week, I found five important ways that have helped me make life on campus more manageable:
- Associate Spaces with Their Time and Activity – What I mean by this is that your mind, especially after two weeks of having a consistent routine, associates places with certain activities. For example, your room might be a place where you destress, sleep, or hang out. This trains your mind to feel a sense of distraction if and when I choose to do homework in my room. Instead, I force myself to complete all my homework in the wonderful Dinand Library. Whether it’s on the main floor, in the stacks, or at a table with friends, you can definitely find yourself acting like the studious Rory Gilmore (before the Yale demise, obviously).
- Complete Weekly Assignments Within a Period of Time – Personally, I like to challenge myself to complete every homework assignment I have for the week in the span of three consecutive days: Monday-Wednesday. This allows me to get the stressful part of studying every day over with by mid-week to then focus on my social life and mental state. Whether it’s exploring Worcester, going on a walk, or simply enjoying a meal from Croads, you’ll definitely be able to have time to finally snap aesthetic pictures without stressing about having to lock in.
- Flashcards. That’s It, That’s the Bullet Point – Want to be an academic weapon? Say less, because developing various study habits throughout your new routine will help you become more comfortable with academically challenging yourself. I strongly recommend the use of flashcards since they are super easy to use and even carry to different places on campus. How do you use flashcards, you may ask? Easy, you just need a stack of index cards and write down a question, key words or phrases on one side and add a detailed response on the other. Test your knowledge by associating key words as words that trigger your holistic knowledge on the topic at hand.
- Take “Whole” Weekday Breaks – Usually, we associate the weekend as being the time we look forward to to sleep, party (who said that!?), or go on a shopping spree. However, I don’t know about you but I know that for me, the weekend is always so out of reach, especially on gloomy Mondays. This brings me to my point that setting aside time during the week motivates me to not just look forward to the weekend, but actually complete every task and class with the best attitude because I have a break in between my busy week.
- Would you like examples of what I’ve been up to during my mid-week breaks? I got you! I have challenged myself to always get out of campus. With this in mind, I have gone thrifting, shopping to stock up on snacks at Target, walking around the Blackstone Shoppes to end up drinking boba from Gong Cha or eating a meal at Panera or Qdoba. I have also inclined into my hobbies a bit more and looked for crafting items at Michaels!
- Attend School-Wide Events – It may seem silly to keep reiterating the point that everyone on campus likes to tell you, but this is a great way to not only socialize but also to romanticise college and start collecting the stories you’ll tell to future generations. I would encourage you to always check your email because sometimes there are limited spots in events and it’s always best to secure your spot ahead of time. I would also recommend inviting that one person you’ve had the biggest friend-crush on. Who knows? Maybe your intuition was right and that person will be your life-long best friend!
Being realistic with yourself while wanting to romanticize life, is not at all difficult! You just need to work with routines and see which one serves you best. And it’s always fun going through trial and error!