Students are placed into a variety of different situations going into and coming out of spring break. Finalizing travel plans, flights, Uber rides, finishing essays, getting extensions, peer reviewing, packing, unpacking, driving, caring for family members, conferencing, calling. An extremely difficult transition is the one back to “school-mode,” once spring break has ended and courses pick up immediately where they left out. I drove 6 hours yesterday to get back to Haverford, and I have three written reports and a presentation over the next two weeks that I had to get a start on over break. For many students, myself included, this transition is extremely stressful. Here are some things that I think are important for transitioning back to school:
- Make some alone time for yourself (or not). Depending on how your spring break went, you may have had too much time to yourself, or not enough. Take some time to recharge your social battery if you spent all break with others – maybe watch some YouTube in bed or go for a walk solo. Or, not! Catch up with friends you missed over break if you’re craving that social time.
- Keep your space clean. One of the worst feelings for me is returning to the stress of school with a messy space. Something that helps ease the stress of returning to school is immediately unpacking, reorganizing, and tidying up if need be.
- Plan your week. If you don’t have Notion yet, I’d highly recommend. I often feel as though I need to do everything for the week at once, to get it all out of the way, which is often much more stress and effort than it’s worth – and I end up doing worse work. I use Notion to break up tasks over the week and set to-dos.
Safe travels with your return trip back to Haverford! Or, see you soon if you’re already there!
– Nat
