1. Binge eating on homemade food.
When you live thousands of miles away from home, this is precious! Unfortunately, it is always the first and the last week of vacations when I realize this. So as things start to wrap up, I get myself out off dinners outside and instead binge on everything that's cooking at home. This is obviously the time when fitness goals don’t count, and also the time when I feel the strongest that my mom is the best cook in the world
2. Making the forever fitness goals.
This is usually what I think at least the 10 hours of my 14 hour flight to Boston thanks to the excess amount of belly fat that is the most evident as I cramp up and sit on the tiny airline seat. My thoughts include figuring out when to get to the gym, having the best runs on the treadmill breaking all my personal records and of course getting a diet plan ready. What actually happens later... is a different story.
3. Behaving like it's freshmen year...again.
I remember being that school kid excited about new stationery, school bag, clothes and the usual back to school stuff. I guess somethings don’t change after all. Every college year I get set with dorm decor, kitchen tools and efficient organizational goals.
Dorm Decor: This basically includes making a list of things I actually don’t need and getting them. Example: Wall decals, pictorial representations of memories aka, photos, scented candles for the fresh start of the day and so much more!
Cooking stuff: As an Indian I stuff in much more than just kitchen essentials. More than half of my bag’s weight is determined by homemade pickles, ground spices and too many sweets cooked by my grandma.
Efficient organizational goals: These are my goals made to help result the neatest looking room I possibly can (they last for approximately a week into college). For this I am piling up on Clorox wipes, desk organization kits, Tide and Febreeze. I am very successful with fulfilling them for the first week of college.
4. Realizing your e-commerce addiction.
I never feel more loyal to any brand during the getting to and through college phase. Whether it is to get that basic stationery for the first day of classes or hunting to get the best deals on the ever so expensive yet underutilized textbooks. I got Amazon Prime in the freshmen year of college and each year I realize it's true relevance during these transitioning weeks.
5. Class RE-registration
Class registration has always seemed like a virtual war with thousand of your college mates you don’t know. Through summer I think over the classes I have taken, the decisions I have made and stalk professor profiles multiple times on rate my professor. Towards the end of summer I change my neatly chopped out semester plan completely.
Last year I initially did not get into a marketing class I really wanted, but as soon as a seat got empty everything needed to switch around to satisfy my burning desire to get into that particular class. This year I changed an entire minor, leading to hunting down classes again, stalking a fresh lot of professors and sending out wait list requests. I think in the end the struggle helped me get the boost of positivity I needed for the semester.
6. Preparing for an 8 a.m.
I am starting my third year in college and this semester has my first 8 a.m. That itself is an achievement in some way. I woke up the other day at 10:15 after having put a lot of effort into my mental self talk starting at 9:30 a.m. to get my ass off! One week from the first day of classes I am up and going with the 8 a.m. prep. This includes everything from the half hour wake-up plan, to setting the most annoying alarm tones, finding other ways of getting sleep and self-talk - lots of self-talk.
7. Making the annual effort to get my budget straight.
Let's just say college budgeting is a concept with a constant effort of improvisation. One week before college starts my google search will usually have something saying “best personal finance apps for students.” Then I go about downloading all of them and only one week into college I realize that this does not make sense since my textbooks, concert outings, and room decor ideas are not budgeted for!
8. Winter prep.
One does not simply attend college in Boston, one prepares for the adversity of winter as well. When life has never gone below 15 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) for 18 years, mental preparation starts months in advance. After the last winter when Boston had around 110 inches of snow, my winter preparation seems more like a mountaineering expedition with a multiple-stage survival plan.
9. Saying the goodbyes.
As I wrap up summer I am faced with a sprawl of awkward and prolonged versions of bye-bye and see you soon. Goodbyes surely don’t have to be looked at negatively--- in fact, they ignite that intrinsic satisfaction of giving closure to a meaningful time, spent with meaningful people.
10. Penning down some emotional diary entries.
There are always a lot more of these that come through the college year but my entries before a new semester hyperbolize the idea of a “new start.” They will convey the excitement of living the the last few days of summer before the start of the pinching cold. They also engrave the essence of all that I want to achieve this year in my heart and mention all the not-so-possible travel plans for the year. In short, these write-ups are the version of the most idealistic way I could live the coming school year.
So here is to an exciting new college year and one thing I know for sure about it is that it's going to be different.
