It’s the year 2017, and relationships with our beloved Netflix accounts are coming to an end while the unrequited lover that is Spring semester squeezes its way in. Students are found either dozing off in classrooms or in their beds 30 minutes after their class began. The break might be physically over but it takes a couple days (maybe weeks) for our brains to catch up. The post-break blues are often underestimated as just a little bit of laziness (or even a symptom of overwork) after Christmas break. That is, until that laziness turns into a habit that affects the whole semester, or that tendency to overwork causes you to crash even faster than it took you to take off.
It is imperative to overcome PBB (post break blues) in order to come out of the year with a strong GPA and your sanity fully intact. I don’t think anyone is truly a pro at this whole college thing, but I do know one or two things about outsmarting the PBB, so here are a couple of my tips.
Tip #1: DON’T BITE OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW
It is 2017, so your *insert social media platform* feed is probably plagued with “new year, new me” resolutions and other subtle remixes of the like. A new year hits and suddenly people believe they are superhuman and can power through 100 different goals. But nine times out of 10, the simple will to achieve all those goals is not enough to actually achieve them. All that to say, do not bite off more than you can chew this semester. If you know you’ve got Advanced Physical Chemistry, Editorial Writing, and Calculus all in one semester, it is probably not a good time to try and hit the gym three times a week while still maintaining a part time job. You simply won’t have enough time to give adequate effort to all these different things, and something will fall short.
Tip #2: ALARMS GO A LONG WAY
People underestimate the immutable power of an alarm clock. Alarm clocks are God-sent simply for the fact that they can be tailored to fit anyone’s needs. There are those of us who need just one obnoxiously loud alarm to get us up, and others who need several obnoxiously loud alarms that go on forever. I have a theory that those who don’t make it to class either don’t have an alarm or don’t have enough alarms.
Tip #3: BE A MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE
So we’ve set our alarm clock and made it to class on time. The journey has not been completed until we’ve chosen what kind of student we are going to let the teacher believe us to be this new semester. If you’ve got bad eyesight respect yourself and make your way to the front of the room and claim that “kiss up” title like a champ. If you see your friend sitting in the back row waving at you and you know you don’t have enough self-control to focus with him or her by your side, RUN! Ditch that “unfocused and talkative” title and make your way to the middle of the room. The “Malcolm in the middle” title is possibly the best title to have if you live for happy mediums. You’re not too close to the front where you have to be completely engaged and not too far back where you feel like you can’t be at all. Malcolms get that happy balance of work and play.
Tip #4: TREAT YO SELF!
This is possibly the most important rule of them all…TREAT YO SELF! If you have it in your head that school is a dreadful place where you are forced only to learn, and to have no social life whatsoever, it will be exactly that. Manifestation is very real. University is only as terrible as you make it and that goes for anything in life. Enjoy your time in university. If you’ve worked hard studying for a test go out and spend time with your friends to blow off steam, stay in and watch your favorite Netflix movie, just do what makes you feel good. Having incentives will make you work harder, and will ensure the pressure of school doesn’t suffocate you either.
