Remember the first few weeks of classes? You woke up early enough to get coffee, had a weekly workout schedule you actually committed to and a perfectly organized backpack full of hope and ambition. Well, now it is November. You are working off maybe six hours of sleep, you cannot remember the last time you made it to the gym and your discussion posts are sitting unanswered on your laptop. You have entered the dreaded mid-semester slump and I am right there with you.
I remember starting the semester organized and completely on top of my school work. Now, it feels like a struggle to make sure everything is even turned in on time. All of the motivation I once felt has now dwindled. At this point, studying means having my laptop open while scrolling through TikTok. While I would not say that I am totally burned out, I am counting down the days until Thanksgiving break.
My sleep schedule and workout plans are nonexistent. I cannot remember the last time I made it to the gym or regularly got more than six and a half hours of sleep. At this point, my body probably consists of 70% coffee and 30% sheer willpower. However, I do not feel alone in this struggle as I know my friends experience it too. As weird as it sounds, from shared exhaustion comes great bonding opportunities. We all struggle together and our late-night study sessions soon turn into hours-long yap-fests about annoying professors and procrastinated essays.
While I am definitely a victim of the mid-semester slump, I am still proud of myself for surviving and not letting it get the best of me. While I might take longer to complete my assignments, I still submit them mostly on time, and I still show up to class and put in the effort where it counts. The important thing is to remember to give myself grace, even when it feels like I am not putting in my best effort. I am allowed to be tired.
Maybe we, as college students, should not focus so much on constantly seeming put-together and embrace the reality that we are not always energized or perfectly organized. Maybe instead, we should celebrate even the small things we accomplish each day. Whether that be starting the essay, getting up early enough to get breakfast before class or getting an extra few minutes of sleep, it is truly the little things that will help get us through.
So, while November may not end up being my most productive month, the exhaustion and laziness will inevitably pass. It is a part of college that everyone goes through, so no one is alone. My advice is to lean on friends and family, but most importantly, do not be too hard on yourself. We all have weeks where we are simply doing the bare minimum, but that does not make us any less of a hard worker. So, while we all may be tired, over-caffeinated and always slightly behind, this semester will be over before we know it, and the motivation that we once had will soon return. In my experience, it always does.