Guilty of making your STEM major your entire personality? Me too. Granted, we spend hours and hours throughout our undergraduate career barely getting through those miserable weed-out classes such as CHEM 1128 and BIO 1108 (for my UConn babies). It is definitely difficult to find the time and effort to explore other interests, especially creative interests. Here I am, a senior in her Spring semester, who just joined Her Campus last fall. I can’t believe I spent most of my college career not surrounded by the Liberal Arts girlies.
Here is a 3-step-guide to help you to easily incorporate creativity into your busy schedule:
1) EXPLORE YOUR INTERESTS
Reflecting back to my freshman year, I cannot remember ever exploring outside of my stem major niche. I did not have time to think about anything else besides passing Orgo Chem and Bio 1108. I found that most of the writing for nursing was strictly lab reports or research papers. Boring. As human beings, we are diverse, versatile, and unique. We tend to get caught up in our niche or aesthetic (such as our major) and we may even begin to identify with them too. But I am here to tell you that your random hobbies make you, you.
Creative interests can include painting, filming, writing, and much more. My interest in writing peaked when I began daily journaling. I dabbled a bit into bullet journaling too, which was a great way to be creative with my daily journaling and busy agenda. Personally, after joining Her Campus, I have pursued creativity through writing articles. When first writing for Her Campus, I related my writing niche to wellness (which ties into my nursing background). This semester, I challenged myself to write outside of my wellness comfort zone and it’s been a lot of fun!
I mentioned a few creative outlets above, but here are some more you may want to try out:
- Writing: blog articles, journaling, bullet journaling, having a pen pal
- Digital Media: create TikToks, Reels, YouTube videos, Pinterest boards
- Art: painting, drawing, coloring books (I used to use a coloring book for Human Anatomy but regular ones are great too), origami
- Fashion: vintage thrifting to play around with your style (check out UConn’s SwapShop), sewing workshop (UConn SwapShop also hosts these), knitting, crotcheting, embroidery
- Redecorating your dorm, apartment, etc.
2) COMBINE THE TWO
It’s completely okay to pick up a creative hobby just for the fun of it. I will say though, as a STEM girlie combining a creative hobby with a “productive” STEM major-related task helped me save some time. For instance, I enjoy making daily vlogs because I love the video editing process. If I record a bit of my study session, then I’m more inclined to actually study. Or maybe I’m more motivated to go to a coffee shop in order to get some cute scenery for my vlog. Being in that space combined with a little bit of coffee helps me have more study motivation.
In my previous article, I also mentioned that starting off my study sessions with a bit of writing for fun also helped boost my productivity. I could start with writing my article and then move on to a piece of homework when I hit some writer’s block. My laptop is already open and in front of me, so why not? Or vice versa. I’m getting tired of studying… time for a coloring break!
I also find that creative outlets, whether they are combined with school work or not, can serve as a way to decrease my own stress levels. They help me take my mind off the not-so-enjoyable STEM stuff. I look forward to my creative tasks and they remind me to slow down and be more present.
3) MAKE NEW FRIENDS
I started off college being a part of UConn’s Nursing Learning Community, which means my floor was strictly nursing majors. This was definitely a great way to adjust to the college scene, and I loved it. There was always someone I could go to for help with homework. But, I would say it placed me in a bit of a nursing box. The majority, if not all of my friends and classmates were STEM girlies too.
It wasn’t until I joined BumbleBFF that I met my Liberal Arts bestie! As a fellow introvert, making new friends has always been a bit hard. Luckily, UConn has a ton of opportunities to make new friends by joining clubs, taking a class you normally wouldn’t, meeting your friend’s friends, etc.
Always remember to give yourself space to paint, read for leisure, or bullet journal, even if it is just for a little while. I kept putting off my creative interests in order to focus more on studying. Truly, all I strived for was academic validation (a hard truth). But now I know: GPA does not define your success, your work ethic, and who you are. To all my STEM girlies, the books will be there when you get back from whatever creative pursuit your heart desires!