Tag Archives: self-care

Mid-Semester Slumps

Posted on by
Reply

So far, studying abroad has been so much fun. I have met so many new people from all over the world, many of whom I hope to stay in contact with when we all return to our respective universities back home in the states.This past weekend, I got to visit one of my very best friends at Oxford University, where she is studying for the year. We explored London the first day that I arrived, then traveled to Oxford where I stayed with her and got to explore the town and campus. It was so much fun to see where she is studying and to walk around a campus that is hundreds of years old.Often, after traveling, it can feel like a let down to return home, where all of your responsibilities are there waiting for you. Although I was happy to return to Dublin after my time visiting my friend, I definitely felt this way, finding myself with a long list of things to accomplish and little motivation to get them done. At some point in the middle of the semester, most students at the 5C’s, and on campuses all across the globe (including Trinity!), feel a sort of slump, where a lack of motivation takes hold and is hard to reignite.

I have tried to reconcile this and have come up with a few reasons that I think the middle of the semester is particularly difficult. First, you are no longer excited by all the new opportunities that the new semester brings. You have settled into a routine on campus, you’ve seen your friends after being apart for three months, and you classes are in full swing. Second, you are still far enough away from the end of the semester that, if you do start looking towards that date in December, you might just make yourself feel more hopeless than before (see Michael Scott’s face below). 

I’ve come up with a list of a few things that may help get you motivated and push through this sluggish time in the semester. 

  1. Get enough sleep. This is the most important, in my opinion, because sleep determines so much of how we feel and how well our day goes. I can almost always make a direct correlation between the amount of sleep I get and how productive, focused, and overall feeling of wellbeing during the day. If you don’t get enough sleep, you are likely to get less work done, in addition to it being of lesser quality, at least, that’s been my experience in many cases.
  2. Engage with the texts and homework assigned to you! If you don’t understand something, ask! Try to find things that interest you in the text or note particular concepts that excite you. If you can actively engage with your work, you are more likely to stay motivated and finish your work. 
  3. Know your study habits and know when to call it a day. There are often times when I find myself pushing to finish a chapter or a set of notes, when I should really just press pause and come back to it later. It these times when eyelids are heavy and focus is wavering that it often pays to just come back to it later, whether you decide to go to bed or simply take a break.

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine in Claremont and continuing to push through this sluggish time in the semester!

Coffee, Coffee, Coffee: Finding Warm Comfort During Finals

Posted on by
Reply

Earlier this week, I found myself attempting to count sheep and invite sleep at 3:00am with no luck.  I was exhausted, but my eyes wouldn’t stay shut, and my brain simply wouldn’t turn off.  Finals and projects and papers and homework and assignment after assignment danced behind by closed eyelids.  As I continuously tried to slip into dreamland to prepare for my early morning internship, I found myself craving a good cup of coffee.  Strange, I thought, that I would be craving something to keep me awake as I was falling asleep.  After another few minutes of pondering, I realized that it wasn’t caffeine that I was craving, it was the comfort of a warm, familiar beverage at a time of stress and anxiety.  I eventually fell asleep and enjoyed my cup o’ joe in the morning.

giphy

Continuing with this coffee theme, yesterday at my internship there were a variety of new faces and protocols coming at me from left and right.  I felt overwhelmed and stressed (likely brought on from dehydration, exhaustion, and a plethora of other factors that seem to plague me in these dark days), and I once again felt myself craving coffee, a comfy chair, and a warm blanket.  Like a ray of sun shining through my cloudy, anxious morning, I was then literally sent on an office coffee run for the first time in my intern career, and I won’t lie, my triple shot latte made me feel warm, fuzzy, and wired.

These types of comfort cravings have been happening a lot lately. I find myself thinking about warm places, blankets, and other aspects of comfort constantly. With finals just around the corner, and final projects and papers and everything in between popping up every hour, a little bit of comfort is all my body seems to want, need, and crave.  Because instilling in myself a sense of comfort can often come from something as simple as a cup of coffee or tea or a blanket, I’ve been really trying this finals season to give myself the security that I’ve been craving.

And with that, I reach my big point of this post. We spend so much of the semester and our academic year being uncomfortable.  Our ideas are constantly challenged, we are academically pushed, and we can even be socially strained at times. I do believe that we are all the stronger because of these things, but it doesn’t mean that we are invincible.  In a space where we are so stressed and overwhelmed, the small moments of undeluded comfort are things that we should take, cherish, and enjoy.  Self-care and mental and emotional health are so important always, but finals week is typically when they start to go down the drain.  As the lack of sleep and the heightened feelings of anxiety and stress kick in, we tend to go into survival mode, but survival mode needn’t be wholly terrible.  This finals week, I know that you’re already being challenged so much, but still I challenge you to find comfort in the little things. Find comfort in the things that make you happy, find comfort in the things that bring you joy, and take that comfort and turn it in to hard work and passion, and finish the semester on a high note.

3-4

Here’s to a productive and proactive finals season, and I wish you all the best of luck.  Have a good cup of coffee under a blanket for me!

5C’s Happiness: Myth, Legend, or Naturalism?

Posted on by
Reply

One thing I’ve noticed here at the 5C’s is how happy everyone is all the time. Even though it sounds great, it’s not natural for people to be happy 24/7. In fact, it’s more natural to have days where you feel sad, or upset by something going on in your life, and it’s even more natural and healthy to let those feelings out. Although we’d like to be, it’s just not possible. As Meredith graciously states for us below, being happy all the time does not mean you’re mentally healthy. Being mentally healthy constitutes something different for everyone and no one’s mental health, or their coping mechanisms, should be compared to someone else’s. As my RA stated last year, “it’s okay not to be okay.” And she couldn’t be more right. Sometimes we feel like we should be happy because it’s sunny out and everyone is friendly and we get to go to school in Southern California surrounded by some of the most amazing people, but the truth is, sometimes we don’t feel awesome or grateful or glad to be here, and that’s okay. It’s totally normal, and it’s important to recognize those feelings.

I recently wrote a post on self-care, and although this is somewhat similar, I feel that it’s important enough to write about emotional wellbeing in addition to self care. I often feel that when I am sad or upset about something, I have nothing to warrant those feelings, when in reality, I have every reason to have my feelings validated. For me, it is hardest when I see that it’s sunny outside and yet, my inner mood is anything but a sunny disposition. I’ve also seen this happening with my friends and I really think that everyone could benefit from a quick reminder that it truly is okay not to be okay.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by your feelings, remember that it’s okay to let them out and that there are many resources to help you work through them, if that is something you would prefer.

Either way, you should feel free embrace your emotions and let yourself be not okay if that’s how you’re feeling, and it can be hard when everyone seems happy all the time.

Making Self Care A Priority

Posted on by
Reply

College is one of the most exciting times of our lives. We have freedom like we never have before, we get to pick all of our classes, we have no parents or guardians living with us, endless opportunities to join clubs, do sports, and meet tons of new people. It feels like the world is finally opening its doors and we can do everything and anything we want.

Although this is liberating, where we feel like a force to be reckoned with, it normally lasts for a week or two, and then reality sets in. Living on your own means that you have to regulate everything yourself: when to do laundry, when to eat, study, get exercise. In addition, we have to regulate our own schedules beyond our classes. How many clubs can you join? Will you do a varsity sport? How much time will that eat up? These are all things we have to think about and it can be a hard transition to make sure there’s a balance between them all.

Most of the people at the 5C’s are extremely good at managing everything and are always willing to offer advice to help make sure their friends and peers are balancing everything in their lives. What I see more and more often is that people often prioritize the care of other students, before they prioritize their own. I am definitely guilty of this and have a hard time making sure that I have time to get all my work done, enjoy my extra-curricular activities, and also spend time with my friends and relax. Self care is so important, but often doesn’t take precedence in our busy schedules. That isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be there for your friends, but you can’t help others as effectively if you aren’t in a good place yourself.

Recognizing when you are stressed or overwhelmed and taking a step back to evaluate how you can reduce that stress is crucial to staying mentally, physically, and emotionally healthy. Sometimes, you realize you haven’t exercised in a while, so you go to the gym to clear your head, or you spend a night with your friends watching movies or having a dance party. But sometimes you just need to treat yourself to a bubble bath or a soft pretzel.

 

jess

When life gets to be too much, we often feel alone and isolated by our feelings, but if you are feeling down, there are so many resources and people whose job it is to help you talk it out. You can always contact your RA, the dean of students, a parent, or a friend to work through your feelings. In addition, Scripps and the 5C’s offer free counseling if you would rather talk with someone who has a completely objective perspective.

The most important thing about self care is recognizing your feelings and realizing that they are completely valid, even if they seem outrageous or silly. The truth is, most people are going through similar situations and realizing that can also be very comforting. I know for me, I have had to cut back on my activities this year, in order to maintain my sanity and emotional wellbeing. That is allowed and totally valid. If your stress comes from grades, know that you are not defined by your grade. It does not define your self-worth, or even what you will do in the future. Everyone will love you the same, even if you don’t ace your next midterm.

So embrace your feelings, even when they seem silly and take some time to treat yourself every now and then.

The Ethics of Self-Care

Posted on by
Reply

Ever since I submitted my cover letter and résumé to the internship opportunity made available to me last week, I haven’t done much in the professional world. Maybe I’m putting too much stock into this alumni connection, but after last week, I felt like I had earned a well-deserved break from all my internship searching and networking and cover letter writing. It can be exhausting work to constantly put yourself out there, and to always have to ask people to help you out through connections and recommendations. That’s why this week’s post will be about self-care, something that I find to be incredibly important in terms of how to be your best self.

As I began to manage my own time in high school, I found that carefully weighing my choices about what to do with my day helped me create a healthy life balance. For example, if I had the choice to study for a test or watch a movie with some close friends, I would genuinely consider which one was best for my mental health. I’d ask myself if I really believed that I would retain what I studied, or if I could watch a movie with friends another time. In college, this choice is a lot easier to make, as I have more time to schedule my day without having to worry about eight hours of school a day, or five hours of work. I always prioritize getting meals with friends, but at the same time, I have no problem with shacking up in the library for a few hours and working on a paper. Weighing out the consequences of the choices I make has really helped me develop a healthy life balance between my social life and my academic/professional one.

Despite all my careful time management, there are still times when I feel like the forces of the universe are conspiring against me, such as last semester during finals week. I was already scared about being physically murdered by my papers when I got sick with a nasty cold, and got dumped. Not one to let boys ruin my life, I adopted the attitude similar to that of Miranda Presley in The Devil Wears Prada: work was all that mattered, and it was all I was going to do.

devilwearsgif

As we all know by the way that The Devil Wears Prada ends, this was not a healthy attitude to adopt. By the end of the third day of finals week, I found myself floundering, unable to focus on my papers. So, I began motivating myself with little acts of self-care throughout the day, whether it be wearing my favorite sundress, or buying myself an iced matcha-chacha on a study break. Similarly, I found that surrounding myself with people who were struggling equally as hard as I was with papers really brightened my spirits. Honnold-Mudd is a great place to develop this weird sort of camaraderie during finals week; they’re open 24-hours, and there isn’t a single person in there who isn’t struggling.

girlsgifAt the end of each day, no matter what, I took time to take medicine, put on really comfy pajamas, and do an activity that I enjoyed before I went to sleep- whether it be reading, watching an episode of my favorite show, or, if I was lucky enough to have the time, watching a movie. I thought about all the other forms of love I had in my life, and just how lucky I was to be at Scripps. I ended up surviving, and passing all my finals. I think the biggest thing about self-care is admitting that it’s okay to need, and that needing it doesn’t make you any less strong or independent. This was something I had to do during finals week, as I abandoned my “Miranda Presley” attitude. As one of my favorite poets, Clementine Von Radics, put it, “No one else gets to tell you what your tough looks like.”