Beating the Post-Break Blues

Spring break has come and gone, and once again the month of April is flying by. For those of you who closely follow my posts (hi Mom), you may remember a hint from earlier this semester about how I'd be spending my break. For everyone else who doesn't follow me on this blog or my personal Instagram, I went to the United Kingdom to visit friends who are studying abroad! I spent most of the week in London, with a 2-day trek up to Edinburgh. I spent most of my time taking an obnoxious amount of pictures, ordering plate after plate of bangers and mash, and forcing my friends to take pictures of me recreating the entire Friends special in London, Adele's "Hello" music video, and myriad scenes from the Harry Potter series.

Despite my facial expression, I was overjoyed to be here. (I was not overjoyed by the hour-long line to take this picture.)

As magical as my week was, it certainly hasn't made the transition back to Tufts easy. We're finally in the last few weeks of the semester, and it'd almost be easier to just sit back and let these weeks drag by, waiting for the warmth and freedom of responsibility that comes with summer. You probably already know where I'm going with this one, so I'll cut right to the chase: don't do that. Now that we're down to the wire, it's time to persevere and give it your all. Here are my tips on ending the semester with a strong finish:

Prioritize your self-care. It's been a long, exhausting school year, and at this point, we're all starting to feel burnt out. So, in the next few weeks, remember to take time for yourself, to do things that you want to do, to relax and recollect so that you can approach every class, assignment, or study session with clarity of mind and purpose. It's taken me until this point in my college career to really understand the importance of self-care, and what finally made me realize it was a great perspective someone once shared with me: don't think of a break as time wasted; think of it as time invested. If you try to barrel through nonstop to summer, you'll end up flaming out even faster. So take that break. Watch that House of Card episode (side note: season four changed me). Do something just because you really want to do it. Your sanity will thank you later.

Important.

Finalize your summer plans. At this point, you're hopefully finishing up the application process for summer internships, and have maybe even committed to an offer. If there are any loose ends at all in your summer plans, make sure to take care of them sooner rather than later. (The stress of finals week will not be made easier by the stress of summer plans.) If you haven't yet found a living situation, reach out to friends and classmates about sublets. 

As always, stay organized. This is the advice I most often give and least often follow. But with less than two months of the year to go, it's more important than ever to stay organized in all aspects of your life - between papers, exams, upcoming moves back home (or somewhere completely new), and fast-approaching finals, we could all stand to gain from an organized life. A good way to achieve this, and to help with that whole self-care thing I mentioned above, is to make your study breaks productive. The next time you decide to take a 15-minute break, use it to scroll through course listings on SIS instead of Facebook. That way, you'll be prepared for registration and you'll get a much-needed mental respite.

The 34534593th time I've used this gif. No regrets.

Remember everyone, summer is five weeks away. In five weeks, we'll be free from finals, encroaching deadlines, and endless homework. While you could just let this time slip by, think of how much more rewarding it'd be to end the year at your best. Go all little-engine-that-could and keep on going.

Until next time,
Sean Boyden
Class of 2017