This is it. Midterms. Maybe your first round of tests is over; maybe you just haven’t stopped with papers and psets since week three. These next few weeks can be draining – it’s mile 17 of the marathon. The finish line is still too far away to think about, and you barely remember the starting line. You’re just chugging along, slowly running out of energy.
But this is what we’re here to do, so let’s grab a snack and some Gatorade (or coffee for our academic marathon) and keep one foot in front of the other. Maybe these weeks can even be enjoyable, too! Here’s 5 things to do, now, to pick up the speed and regain some love for what you’re doing.
1. Reconnect. Call your best friend from high school. Write a letter to your old math teacher. Text someone you haven’t spoken to since the summer. Life exists beyond the Harvard bubble, and talking to people outside of it can be refreshing. Chances are, you miss someone, even if you aren’t actively thinking about it. Get in touch with them! It opens up your world beyond your own experiences of the day.
2. Reassess. Look at your calendar for the weeks ahead, until Thanksgiving break. See what you have to do, and allocate energy on the large scale. If you have another round of midterms the first week in November, start studying early, or make sure not to plan extracurricular events during that week. Get a sense of what’s left to do so you can do it smartly.
3. Make time for some specific relaxing. Whether it’s a visit to the Museum of Fine Arts or an episode of Modern Family, force yourself to take a break. You might come back refreshed! This advice is so cliché – of course everyone says to “relax, it’ll be fine.” Being active with your relaxation, though, is important – it’s not about taking an hour “break” on Facebook, but rather making a plan to do something as a real break from the everyday pattern. It’s different, and it will feel different.
4. Go to office hours! If you haven’t met your professors yet, now is the time. Talk to them – they are inevitably excited about what they’re teaching, and it might inspire you to be excited about learning it, too. People here love what they’re doing, and that kind of love can be infectious, if you let it be. And loving what you’re doing is always ideal!
5. Be kind to yourself – mentally. The weeks that have passed are gone, so don’t beat yourself up for that 65% you got on your last midterm. Go to bed a little early one night. Get a manicure. Get dinner in Boston. Whatever you need to do to forgive any self-deprecation, do it. You need to be strong to get through mile 17, not miserable. You can definitely be both. But the stronger you are, the more you let go of the kinks and speed bumps along the way, the better you’ll feel when you cross the finish line in December.
Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit…
Even Aeneas knew it – times are rough. But Aeneas cheers his comrades up with that line in the Aeneid: “Perhaps, someday, even these things will be pleasing to remember…” That’s the goal, right? To make memories so good that we remember these weeks with something like enjoyment. Mile 17 hurts; that’s a fact. But hopefully at the end of the term we can look back and say it was worth it.