Being stuck on campus when all your friends have gone home can be a bit of a bummer. However, it doesn’t have to be a complete let down if you can manage to change the way you think about it. You can look at being stuck by yourself as a week of boredom, and mope about it all week, or you can scream “Carpe Diem!” at the top of your lungs in the hallways (after all, there’s no one around to judge you) and actually start seizing the week.
Go outside
It’s easy to sit in your room and mope about how your friends have gone home or how you aren’t able to visit your family. However, that isn’t exactly how you make the best out of the week. Locking yourself up in your room is surely a way to isolate yourself and act as a loud reminder that you are alone. So, leave the room and go outside. The outside world has people – big surprise – and no you don’t have to talk to everyone you see on the street, but being around people helps you feel less lonely. You don’t need to have a particular reason to go out and it can be as simple as reading in a cafe, playing Pokémon Go, or just going for a walk.
Make yourself a “wucket list”
Hopefully, during reading week your professors have not conspired to actually make you read. However, even if you do, it is important for your sanity that you do something fun as well, such as making yourself a “wucket list.” What the heck is that, you ask?
Wucket [Wu-ck-et li-sst]
Noun: a list of things one wants to do before the end of the week… and yes I made that up!
A wucket list would be a fun way to keep yourself occupied. Think of some of the things you’d like to see or do in your city and make that your mission for the week. This will not only keep you occupied, but also bring a sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and adventure.
Not sure where to start? Here are some ideas of activities you can put on your list:
- Eat from around the world! Each day of the week you can go out to a different cultural restaurant in your city and try something you’ve never tried before. If you are not one for cultural foods or if eating out every day is not in the budget, there are still a ton of other places to try in the Byward Market. Go to one you’ve never been to before.
- Take advantage of your student discount and hit up all the museums in Ottawa (and there are A LOT), not to mention that some are free on certain days of the week.
- Go paddle boating on Dow’s Lake. To make it more fun, buy a box of pizza, go on a paddle boat, eat the entire box and enjoy the scenery.
- See a live show. It can be a performance at the Bytowne Theater, the National Arts Centre, or catch a stand-up comedy show.
- Rent a bike and ride it along the canal; the scenery is beautiful.
- Visit the whispering wall on Parliament Hill/take a tour of our political attractions.
And don’t forget to set up Skype dates!
Just because you are far way doesn’t mean that you cannot stay in the loop with your friends or spend some time with your family. Make the effort to set up dates with friends and family, that way you are still connecting with them and won’t feel like you’re missing out on what’s going on in their lives.
Let us know what your reading week tips are in the comment section below!
Sources: Cover Photo, 1, 2
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