Midterms Week in Retrospect

Taken at 5:29pm at Regents Hall of Science (3rd Floors)

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Hello Lovlies!

It's been a while, I know. Midterms were concluded just last week, and let me tell you I was SWAMPED.

I was overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious.

Let me tell you why. I have experienced a new phenomenon that seems to have manifested during my college time. Its name?

Miss Lack of Motivation

Dun. Dun. Dun

It was tough. It also didn't help that I had about a million other things vying for my attention. My classes are rigorous and my professors expect a lot. There's nothing wrong with that at all, but when you go to a school where 99.95% of the studying is outside of the classroom, autonomy and self-control are the quintessential skills needed to succeed.

I certainly had some beta level of experience in both as it was necessary in order to excel in high school, but college is where you need to be in your A game. It helped that I enjoyed all of my classes and that all of my professors are wonderful people and scholars, but nonetheless it was a difficult time.

I had trouble sitting down and staying focused, all while the eager puppy of a phone seemed to exasperate me through its constant want of attention. It seemed that right when I began reading the first line of a 72 page reading assignment my mind decided to remind me how long it had been since I'd watched some of my favorite Disney movies, and how nice it would be to watch them again. Or how it seemed that everyone I'd known since birth had come to a consensus to send me a text at that particular moment.

I realized that I could no longer just sit down and do my work like I used to, but now I needed to coax myself to do so.

In any case, like Tim Urban said in his Ted Talk, my inner monkey went crazy right before my midterm exams and I got everything done. If you haven't seen this Ted Talk here's the link: www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator

I survived, but going forward I decided that I will be implementing new habits and techniques to ensure those habits cease. Those include using the Pomodoro method, taking Cornell Notes during class, playing soothing music instead of my favorite hits, putting my phone on silent and hiding it, looking over the syllabus and planning ahead, and finally getting through the tasks of the day. I'll be going over these in more detail on another post.

Today was a particularly interesting day because I received great information about a semester-long study abroad program in Washington D.C for the next fall semester. It's comprised of two seminars, an independent research opportunity and an internship where I'll (hopefully) get to intern for one of MN's senators or representatives. All while immersing myself in the Washington D.C experience.

Conclusively, attending that information session set aflame my heart's desire.

I hope that through all the stressors in your lives, you too can find something that makes you "completely, and perfectly, and incandescently happy.”

See you next time.

Per Aspera Ad Astra