It’s finally over.
The late nights/early mornings, caffeine-fueled study sessions and frantic attempts to balance school/work/extracurriculars/survival during finals and the weeks leading up to it.But for some students, the entire semester felt like one long, protracted finals week. For some, life hit hard, just once. Maybe it was a serious illness, a family problem, or financial issue. For others, it might have been little-to-moderate things that added up over the course of 15 weeks. We all start the new semester with a feeling of excitement and general optimism, but what do you do when everything goes wrong?
This semester, I struggled. I had three good days at the beginning of the semester, and I felt great: it’s senior year, and I was planning to make the most of it.
Then I had a car accident. I was fine, but the car wasn’t. The week after that, a hurricane hit, and the entire school evacuated. Over the next two weeks, I got sick, and then I had to quit my job and find a new one while trying to manage school and Emergency Medical Technician training. And then finals rolled around.
In short, the semester was chaos. And like many other students who have life fall apart in the middle of the semester, I struggled to keep myself together. I felt numb some days, and emotional on others, while oscillating between insomnia and exhaustion. I failed some quizzes and didn’t do as well as I’d have liked on midterms. And through it all, I beat myself up with thoughts that I should feel/think/perform better:
“You should have prioritized that test more, you wouldn’t have gotten that bad grade if you spent more time on the class.”
“You should spend more time with people/volunteering on campus, it’s not fair to them if you don’t.”
“You should be more energetic, you haven’t worked out all semester.”
“What’s wrong with you? This isn’t how you normally are.”
Etcetera.
And while we all know the standard advice is to shut down that negative self-talk and give yourself a break, it’s easier said than done. It’s especially hard to do when you’re just telling yourself to “think positive” over and over again.
So if you’ve had a rough semester, for any reason, just know that you have permission to cut yourself some slack. It’s okay to process whatever you’ve been through in whatever way is healthy and works for you.
If that means socializing more or less than you normally would, taking time off from activities you’d normally commit to, or having grades that aren’t what you hoped for, it’s okay. Life happens, and it’s not realistic to expect your feelings, academics and social life to be 100% the way they normally are. And listen to your friends, professors, and other people who know you well: if they’re concerned about your mental or physical health, don’t be afraid to reach out for professional help. Regent offers a variety of resources on campus, ranging from free counseling for students to success coaching. Remember that this semester doesn’t define you: regardless of your accomplishments, you are worth taking care of and prioritizing.