Spring break: what a glorious time of year. Not only does it provide a much-needed recess from school, but it also serves as a great vacation time. Get away from your normal life, explore another city, adventure with your friends, have fun and just relax. For a week, you are free from your normal-life responsibilities. Not a care in the world except working on your tan and deciding where to go for dinner. For a split second, your life is peaceful and stress-free.
Until the seven days in paradise are up and you are forced to return to reality. Once you are back from bliss, classes resume on a dreadful Monday morning. Walking into your 9 a.m., the faint smell of ocean air taunts you. You just got back from a getaway and you are already exhausted from school. How are you going to make it through these next eight weeks?
1. Remember you have done it before, and you can do it again!
You have survived many other weeks after spring break, and this year is no different. You just have to suck it up and practice these few things.
2. Get back on a routine.
Vacation is always great because you don't have to do anything. You can choose to sleep in until 11 and then lie on the beach all day and then party all night, and repeat. But once you get back to school, you have to get back into the flow of waking up to your alarm, studying after class and getting appropriate amounts of sleep.
3. Stay focused.
Dream about being at the beach all you want, but when it comes down to it, get back to work. Allow yourself a little leeway to ease yourself back into the first few days of classes, but then get back on top of things and remember why you are in school. If you let your classes slip the last few weeks of school, you basically just wasted a whole year of hard work. Therefore, stay focused so you don't fail your responsibilities.
4. Stay motivated.
It may be hard to find inspiration in the classroom when paradise is on your mind, but stay driven by your overall school goals. Spring break is a great week, but it's just a week. If you spend your whole life living for spring breaks, the other 51 weeks in the year become pointless. Remember your dreams and why you are going to school and use this to get motivated to finish out the school year strong.
5. Stay on top of things.
Eight more weeks — that's all it is. After these next eight weeks you can go back to sleeping in and not having to worry about turning in assignments. But until then, keep reading, keep studying, keep writing. Procrastinating and letting your grades slip will only make the next several weeks more painful.
6. Drink lots of coffee.
You may be tired and you may not want to be back at school, but you have survived these last few school weeks after spring break in the past; this year is no different. Plus, coffee makes everything better.
Spring break is always a nice break, but that's all it is: a break. Once you get back to real life, the first few weeks might be a little exhausting and aimless, but you can do this. Good luck, and let the countdown to summer begin!
