Here at Queen’s, it seems as though the fall semester is prime time for making memories and fulfilling the fantasy of the quintessential university experience. There’s reuniting with friends you missed in the summer, the pier, homecoming, Halloween, days when you can study outside, breakfast on the porch, and no need to pay for coat check. However, when you flip the script over to the winter semester, the days feel monotonous, you slip and fall on the way to class, it’s dark at 4PM, and your cabin fever makes it feel like the “good old college days” are far behind you — despite “the good old college days” being a few months back. Sure, the winter semester isn’t all doom and gloom, seeing as you can always live for the weekend; but just two days of the week don’t always compensate for the colorlessness experienced on weekdays.
So, to keep myself motivated and an active member of the student community, I have begun embarking on a journey of finding small, accessible ways to keep morale up throughout the week. Since I figured I’m not the only one having trouble navigating this icy void, here are a few subtle methods to keep your weekdays enjoyable during the winter semester.
1. Find an atypical place to study on campus.
Stauffer, Douglas, and the ARC may be the reliable places to study on campus, but there is no shortage of tables and chairs throughout all the academic buildings available to us. I would say that there is even more incentive to explore campus because we’re paying for it. With those ideas in mind, when you have some time between or after classes, choose a building that you’ve never (or rarely) been to and go to any accessible floor just to see what’s out there. Who knows, you may end up finding your new signature study spot!
2. Try a new recipe.
If you’re like me and love to cook, trying out a new recipe will allow you to devote time to something you truly enjoy while completing something productive. On a weekday evening with some time to spare, test out a recipe from a book or the Internet, just to say that you’ve tried it and to potentially have something new to add to your meal rotation.
3. Pick one day of the week where you dress up.
I’m one of those people who feels better about themselves when they look presentable. Despite this, you can often find me in the same Queen’s crew neck and jeans. However, on that one day of the week when I choose to wear my favourite pieces, it seems to reset my mentality by helping me feel more confident and motivated to attend my lectures.
4. Attend student-organized events.
Club events are advertised everywhere — through social media, posters on bulletin boards, and word of mouth. So, why not take advantage of all these opportunities at your disposal since you’re here? If you’re having a particularly busy week, the event(s) you choose to attend don’t need to be huge time commitments. Rather, you could attend study events, movie nights, or events that are organized by the student council of your major/faculty. Additionally, student-led events can be a great place to get to know a new friend or spend time with an old one.
Though I don’t incorporate all of these into my weekly routine at once, these little activities give me something to look forward to at one point or another. Stepping slightly outside the box from your weekly routine can be refreshing and can point you in the direction of something new that you can enjoy for the remainder of the semester.