How to survive (or at least pretend like you are surviving!) online school/grad school/any school...or life :P
Earlier this morning I was laying awake thinking about school. That'll cure your insomnia, huh? 😋😉
Recently, my twin's awesome roommate got accepted to a graduate program and she will start in a couple of weeks (YOU TOTALLY GOT THIS HANNAH!!!! 😀👏👏👏). When I first started my graduate program back in the spring of 2019 (already?!), I had absolutely zero clue what I was doing. I hadn't been in school in eight years, and more than that, it was also my first foray into online schooling, something I had never experienced before. I was completely lost. My brain was ADDLMNOP squirrel scrampled egg, a mess. A red hot mess. I felt so scatterbrained. Along with that, the amount of work that I needed to do in eight weeks just seemed overwhelming. I thought to myself that there was no way on earth I was going to get all of it done.
So one day not too long after I'd started, I don't even remember where I was, maybe on my lunch break, but I took a minute and just stopped....and wrote everything down. Everything. Every due date, every paper, every discussion board post topic, every chapter I needed to read. Everything. I was taking two classes at a time, so guess what? I did it again for my other class. I wrote everything down, on paper. And suddenly, when it was all laid out in front of me on paper....It didn't seem so overwhelming anymore. That was the first time I thought "Hey, I can definitely do this!" And then fast forward to December 2020 and I graduated with a 4.0 GPA...
I now want to share a few tidbits that I learned along the way that I hope will be helpful to anyone who is maybe starting school, or maybe just needs to regain some footing in their life.
1. Headphones are your friend. The suckiness factor of writing a paper decreases by about a factor of a thousand if you have a rockin' playlist! If you're feeling the weight of it all, throw on your headphones and take a 5 minute breather and put on a song that just makes you feel better.
2. Write it down. No, seriously. Write everything down. Every due date, every paper, every assignment, every chapter to read, everything. Every menial task on your to-do list. And then when it's done....cross it off! And then bask in the glory of your small victory because you deserve to!
3. Be realistic and know your limits. As much as you want to knock out a week's worth of assignments in like a day, the reality is that's probably just too much, especially if you have other things going on like work. Know your limitations and do what you can. I promise it's good enough!
4. The reality is school, and life for that matter, is something you'll need to attend to every day, but...If you are feeling especially overwhelmed on a particular day, set a timer and strive to complete a few tasks in just, say, ten minutes, fifteen minutes. If you can go more, then go more. But again, know your limitations. You will be amazed at what you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
5. Piggybacking on #3.....If you can realistically and, without killing yourself or burning yourself out, work ahead a little, then do it. That's the beauty of working at your own pace! If there is anything you can do to make life even just a little bit easier for you, do it. When I was in school, I worked my butt off during the week so I was able to enjoy my weekends with Justin. Again, it all boils down to knowing how you work and what your limits are.
6. Let your people in. School is hard. Life is hard. But anything hard is so much easier to bear when you have people in your corner cheering you on. Trust me on this one 😊
7. Take a break and allow yourself a bit of a distraction. Again, life is hard. School is hard. You need brain breaks. If your bestie says "hey let's go get some ice cream or go take a walk" do not miss out on that opportunity. When writing a paper or doing research, every hour or so, take a few minutes and get up, stretch, drink some water, watch something stupid on YouTube. It helps. Again, trust me on this one!
8. If you're struggling, reach out. Talk to someone you trust. Talk to your friends. Talk to your professors. Talk to your advisor. Talk to someone! I promise you that people in your life want to help you.
9. I cannot stress this one enough....CELEBRATE. That first paper or test you ace? Go out for dinner and get the dang dessert too. Making it through a particularly crappy week? Guess what, go buy a new shirt or a pair of earrings or something. You deserve all of the great things that happen and you deserve to enjoy them!
10. Remember why you're doing what you're doing and remember to do your best to enjoy it. I got so much more out of my graduate education because I was actually enjoying what I was learning and discussing in my classes, compared to when I was an undergraduate and a lot of the time it felt like pure survival mode. Try to really be engaged and don't lose sight of your dreams! If you start to feel like it's a chore, take a step back and reevaluate.
11. This last one is so, so important: Take care of YOU. Get enough sleep. Do your self-care. Watch funny movies. Drink your coffee. Don't cram for a test, don't wait until 20 minutes before the paper's due to write it. This is your journey and you have to absolutely be the best you that you can be, otherwise, you won't succeed. Remember you can do hard things!
GOOD LUCK!!!!! 💖😘
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