by Hello MyMajors Readers!
I’m back … after a whole mix up about getting those blog articles published, but that doesn’t matter. What does matter is how I’m suffering through what I call the mid-semester slump.
Welcome to the Dictionary of Ashleyland
Mid-semester slump: That feeling when a student loses all motivation to give 100% in class. Symptoms include procrastination, laziness, and a tendency to take naps and complain about the work rather than doing the work.
Granted, as a self-acknowledged nerd, I don’t let my mid-semester slump get the best of me. It just results in horrible nights where you spend 10-12pm watching movies with your friend rather than doing homework, resolving your lack of motivation with a “sleep first, homework later” policy, and then doing the work the same day it is due at 3am.
One major setback that I did not expect from college: the lack of school holidays. No Veteran’s Day off. Columbus Day was no excuse. No so-called “Staff Development Days” like they had in high school. Heck, I’d been at school for over two months straight before the well deserved Thanksgiving Break (OK, I lied. We had a day off because of Superstorm Sandy, but if it weren’t for Mother Nature, two months straight of school would have been horror).
After a lovely Thanksgiving Break that included my first time traveling alone, visiting friends from high school in an unfamiliar New York City, and spending Thanksgiving dinner with my cousin (the only relative I have on this side of the country), I thought my restless energy for something new would be satisfied. It wasn’t.
I blame the snow. The first “residential snow” as my friend Jillian puts it. Trust me, when you’re from Southern California, the first snow leaves you wanting to play in it all day. And the next day, Syracuse expects me to go to class? Yes. Today was the first day back from Thanksgiving Break, and I already want the week to be over.
Another reason why I’ve been feeling this mid-semester slump: it is near the end of the semester and I am almost bored of the classes I’ve been taking. Yes. I have two more weeks of class and one week of finals to go. It’s amazing how my first semester of college has flown by. And I will finally admit that I do miss home a little. After all, it will be 4 months away from home before I get to see my family in person again. For the record, I only miss home— I’m not homesick.
However, being negative and blue with the mid-semester slump is no fun. There needs to be a way to pick myself off the ground and keep running this marathon just a while longer before I can relax. To cure my mid-semester slump, I put together a countdown that shows everything I need to do until the end of the semester.
18 MORE DAYS OF FIRST SEMESTER
• 2 more days to read over a weeks worth of the New York Times news
• 3 more days to write an art history paper worth 25% of my grade
• 4 more days until a Statistics midterm
• 5 more days until the Pancakes in Bed event I have to host
• 7 more days until I have to turn in an article for the school newspaper— a “Finals Week Survival Guide” (that is if I can survive it myself.)
• 9 more days until my Communications and Society Final
• 9 more days until the E-board party for RHA
• 10 more days until my Art History Final
• 11 more days until the rough cut of my fiction piece is due
• 11 more days until my tuition is due
• 12 more days until the floor Holiday Party
• 14 more days until my French final
• 15 more days until the fiction piece for Multimedia Storytelling is due
• 16 more days until my Statistics final
• 17 more days until I can relax
• 18 more days until I can pack
19 more days until I come home.
With this mapped out in my mind, I feel a lot better. Instead of a flood of overwhelming chaos in my mind, this list is organized chaos. I take things as they come– one assignment at a time rather than worrying about everything all at once. I also added some fun activities I’ve committed myself to in order to assure the fact that I will relax at some point in the middle.
I guess I better start reading 14 front pages of the New York Times over the past two weeks (silly current events quizzes).
I can’t wait until this semester is over.
-Ashley
