Let's be honest, the mid-semester rut is real. I'm talking about that point in the semester when you've got midterms after midterms, papers on papers and due dates that won't seem to stop piling up. I'm talking about "breaks" that you feel like are actually just opportunities for you to get more work done. I'm also talking about times when you actually get sick, which is really just no help at all when your planner is already too full to add a trip to the doctor's office to (shout out to you, cold season).
I'm talking about that point in the semester, even if it's not in the actual middle when school is weighing you down. I'm talking about that point when you feel exhausted, and going to class isn't as appealing as it should be. I'm talking about this endless cycle, this cycle that occurs every semester. I'm talking about a cycle that it is time to break.
When the mid-semester rut has got you down, sometimes a little self-reminder is all it takes to bounce back. You need to remind yourself that these due dates won't last forever, and neither will this opportunity. I'm talking about this opportunity to be challenged academically, the opportunity to have all of these amazing friends and people in your life all in the same place at the same time. College affords us so many wonderful opportunities, and when you only have around four years to take advantage of them, you have to stay on your toes to truly allow them to impact your life.
I've joined so many wonderful organizations since I've started college. I've also made so many wonderful friends. I've found a wonderful place to work. I've found a wonderful home and place to call my own. I've found a life that I love here, a life that I wouldn't trade for anything, and when I look at it that way, all of the things that make this "mid-semester rut" so real, seem to fade away.
Yes, you need to do good on your midterms and papers and exams, and everything else that's piling up, but you also need to realize that you can do this, and you can do it with the amazing help and support system that this opportunity has afforded you. Being successful isn't something that is going to come easy, but by recognizing everything you've been afforded to help you, and by seeing the bigger picture, success is possible, and making it through this point in the semester that seems to be a bit too much to handle? Well, that's possible too.
We've been blessed to be here, no matter where that "here" is for everyone. We've been afforded so many wonderful opportunities, been given so much love, that if we just consider everything we do have, then all the trouble this mid-semester rut brings about suddenly feels a little more insignificant. When the mid-semester rut has got you down, sometimes all it takes is a few self-reminders to help you bounce back.