Think back to last year. You were so excited to begin college classes, meet new people, join clubs, and do all kinds of other "fun" things that college students get to do. This year, returning as a sophomore, is drastically different. You feel constantly tired, your homework is piling up before your eyes, and you barely even want to leave your room to get food or go grocery shopping, much less go to class. Lets face it: The only thing you really want to do is lay in bed, watch Netflix, and avoid all of your responsibilities.
What happened here? Why did we lose our enthusiasm to learn, to do homework, and to just enjoy the college lifestyle that we have now become accustomed to? My guess is that while we have gotten accustomed to this college lifestyle, it isn't exciting anymore. Last year, everything was so new (and a little scary at first!), and we were anxious to make new friends in our halls and classes. Now, we have an established group of friends and we know campus like the back of our hands.
Also, classes are now more challenging as we begin to delve further into our majors and minors of study, limiting our free time to relax during the week. Instead of using our free time to hang out with friends and take care of ourselves, we are stressing about the homework, exams, and papers we have due the next day.
How can we fix this problem? How can we learn to manage our time, our social life, our health, and everything else in between while balancing our school work? We need to learn to take time for ourselves. As students, we constantly put everything else before our own physical and mental well-being, and that can be dangerous. School work should not ever come before our own health, and I feel that a lot of students tend to push their own well-being aside most of the time. Take time to yourself and know that it's OK to binge-watch Netflix and lay in bed for a few hours.
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Along with some alone time, we also need to enjoy the time we have left with our college friends. We only get to experience college once, and once it's over, there is no going back. As sophomores, we're already a quarter of the way done with college, and the time is just going to go by even faster. Savor the time you have left in college.
Go to dinner with friends, take that road trip you've always been talking about but never actually do. Take embarrassing selfies with your friends. Take a trip to the mall on a weekend, treat yourself to Chipotle. Go to football, soccer, rugby, and any other games and cheer on your school while you're still a student. Involve yourself in campus events and activities.
Don't let the amount of school work you have take away from the fun of college. Don't let it rule your life. You can get all of it done; try not to stress about it. Remember this: Your life is not defined by your GPA or whether or not you got on the Dean's List last year. You are not the grade you got on your last exam. There is a balance between school work and everything else we have going on -- the key is to find it. It's OK if you haven't found this balance yet; it will come in time. Until then, know that you can do absolutely anything you set your mind to, whether it's writing a paper, studying for a tough exam, or aiming for a 4.0. You can do all of that and more. Believe in yourself, and everything else will fall into place.
Yes, the sophomore slump is real. But it doesn't have to ruin your year.
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