Kenyon is an amazing place, but it can also be a stressful place. Classes get hard and homework gets overwhelming. I really miss my cat. Throw in a few midterms and this past weekend I was definitely ready for fall break. So here are my surefire ways to reenergize for the ultimate semester comeback:
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Step 1: Make a giant to-do list so you don’t forget anything over the break. Then forget about it.
Yes you have a lot to do (and you could even get ahead) but you also just spent five days doing nothing but studying and you honestly need a break from words like “Bayer Villager” and “cyclobutane” (too soon orgo kids?). Write everything down, knowing full well that you won’t use this list until Sunday night as you frantically rush to catch up before classes. Realize that sometimes that’s ok.
Step 2: Rock out on the way home with home with your best friend and Pandora tween party station
This step is very specific to living within driving distance of Kenyon and driving with your best friend who happens to enjoy the same slightly dated music. Nonetheless, enjoy living like a queen with your free trial of Pandora Premium. Feel free to rub it in your “commercial filled free version” friend’s face by using the phrase “this is a premium feature” about seventy times. Feel the freedom and entitlement that an arbitrary free trial you have done nothing to deserve brings. Also hope that your two-year friendship can withstand this sort of conflict.
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Step 3: Get home and watch a ridiculous amount of The Office
I am talking watching multiple episodes back to back, preferably next to a fire while petting a fluffy white kitty (the last two are optional, though preferred). Watch so much of the Office that you quote it verbatim and feel like Jim and Pam are family. Make your parents question whether the shapeless form on the couch actually has any self-respect. Assert that you have indeed done productive things, but that they all happened to have occurred the previous weeks. Realize this sounds like a convenient excuse. Console yourself by watching more of The Office.
Step 4: Try your mom’s shampoo and realize your hair is really curly.
Realize that you have curly hair but that due to cheap shampoo and air drying while walking up to Peirce after practice you often have really frizzy hair. Capitalize on your mom buying great shampoo and have really outstanding hair for a couple days. Realize no one at Kenyon will ever see it because there really were too many steps in the whole routine and it would be difficult to maintain. Take some cute pictures, realize it will never happen again, and return to Step 3.
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Step 5: Become completely nocturnal
I am not really sure how sleep cycles work but I do know that over break, I kept staying up later and sleeping in earlier. By the end of it, I realized that I was going to be a really sad pup when I got back to Kenyon. Mostly because 9:10 classes are a thing. Consider gradually waking up earlier each morning. Decide this is a stupid idea and decide to do it cold turkey on Monday. Realize that these impulsive decisions will have to end at some point. Avoid the problem by watching more of the Office (is there anything it doesn’t solve?).
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All of these steps are somewhat ridiculous and oddly specific, but they do highlight the need for rest and rejuvenation after a long period of stress. This has been a rough couple weeks and I really needed to turn the engine off. This engine that is constantly driving for me to study more, to stay up just one more hour, even to be more efficient while eating dinner. It drives me, it focuses me, but sometimes it gets to be too much. Living at that level of stress is not good for my academic performance nor is it healthy in the long run. Be sure to study hard, but remember to take a break every once in awhile. Sometimes singing Hannah Montana as loud as you can with your best friend and making stupid jokes is exactly what the doctor ordered.
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