Study Break

Being a teenager is all about keeping sane during the hardest time of the year. Finals. It's the craziest week or so of the semester. Everybody is on edge, stressed the hell out, and more than a little strung out. People walk around hiked up on coffee and more than sleep deprived. Highlighters are wielded like lightsabers, white out becomes your bff and your laptop keyboard get stroked so many times it squeals with pleasure. But what happens if the pressure's too much, and you just can't deal - what then? No worries, all you need is a study break.

Who know where you currently are, but if you're in college or at university you're most likely in finals or exam time or it's coming up. Some people call it hell week, and for good reason. Your entire semester of class has lead up to this, one last test to see what you actually learned. If you're like me, then you may or may not be a mess. It gets to end of the semester and you kind of just shut down, tune your professor out, and spend lecture time shamelessly taking the weirdest selfies just to snapchat all your friends (no dignity whatsoever). Like let's be real, I stopped reading for class after the second week of school (not really, but ...) and let's just say catching up was the least of my worries. Now finals have come and reared their ugly ass head all up in my academic business, and I'm like woah - when did this happen #storyofmylife. Now, it's official exam study mode and it's like I've taken the turnpike to struggle city, population - me, myself, and I. My books are cracked wide open like a dirty plumbers butt cheeks (love my some analogies) and my notebooks skimmed like a finely spread layer of Nutella. Studying is mandatory, there's no beating around the bush. It's got to go down. You just have to study, learn the material and do your best. That's all you can ask of yourself now. Nothing more, or nothing less. When you take that test and you try your hardest, you leave it all on the mat desk (those minuscule baby desktops) and that's it. End of story, at least you can relish in the fact that that's all you got. No regrets - you take what you can get and head home. Study break.

We're teens, not robots. Meaning studying, while it definitely needs to happen in a serious manner, is not feasible without some breaks in between. Here's some tips on how to make the most of your study time and keep it together (no dramatic soap opera still break downs are needed here and now). First and foremost, sleep is essential. The whole staying up all night (One Direction) to study idea, nope - not a good one. Sleep is now more important than ever. Whether you've got to hit some power naps like a champ during the day or get your full night's rest (no one wants to wake up ugly), you'd better rest those eyes. Taking an exam a sleep deprived mess is not good at all, I know I did it on Friday and legit fell asleep in the middle of writing a sentence and woke up to finish just in time #mylife. Get some shut eye and plan to sleep at a normal hour. Sleeping in, however, just like Sweet Brown says, ain't nobody got time for that. Food, the other big one, you'd better eat. Get of out your room and go get some food, it's what keeps you alive. Order some take out if you're tired of your campus food (so yeah, I've felt that way ever since day 2 of college) and make sure you're keeping yourself healthy. People have a tendency to get sick during finals, and this is not the time. Take your vitamins, keep yourself clean (as in shower like there's no tomorrow) and keep your routine of meals, you're going to need the energy. Now that you've got the basics down, time to mix it up. Take some time just for yourself and relax. I'm not talking browsing social media (facebook, twitter, instagram, snapchat, tumblr, reddit, imgur etc.) - I'm talking about doing something to take your mind of your studies not your drama. If you're the outdoor type take a walk, clear your head and just breathe. Go play a sport, a pick up game of basketball, hit some balls around in tennis, or go for a Tom Daley style swim (pretty much nakey an over-tanned; like homeboy you can't be black, that's not how that works). I'm sure your school has some stress relief events, find some and actually go to them. The whole apathetic college student act was never-in, be proactive and get out there. Free massages, food, craft-making, therapeutic dogs - the possibilities are endless. If you're more of an indoor type (like me), then hit up YouTube and have a laugh. I've recently become obsessed with the MadTV "Vancome Lady" sketches, Nicole Sullivan is hilariously offensive. Then the British YouTubers are the best, Oli White, Marcus Butler, Jack and Finn Harries - way too many, check them out. Look up bloopers to your favorite shows, or learn how to do something new. You can read the news and get educated about the news (for me that's TV Guide and USA Today Life sections as well as wikipedia for celebrity info). Play some video games, I recommend some throwback Halo (that's my ish). Watch some TV (limit yourself Padawan), 9O21O is always good, try Blue Water High, Charmed, Prison Break, Teen Wolf or Felicity on Netflix (best bets). You could read a book for pleasure (#thingsthatneverhappen). Call your family, tell your mother you lover (but seriously, please do). Lastly, you can talk to people, but definitely mind the time. You've got to balance keeping yourself in tact with actually getting work done. Time yourself, set smaller goals like to work for half an hour without checking your phone (that's how I get things done). Study break it on down.

*You're probably wondering what I've been up to recently, here's a quick update. I went to my fraternity (Phi Mu Delta) brother/adviser's thesis defense (he passed!) and a reception for the outgoing provost of my university, UVM - to pretend to be important. I also went to the LGBTQA (all the letters) "Home for the Holidays" food festival. Seriously people are like how do you know about all this stuff, look at the posters plastered in every hall and bulletin board, or read your damn email - what do you want people to do, drag you to the event. BTW, you don't have to identify with certain groups to go to their events, that's what the A (ally) is for, much like ALANA (the multicultural center) isn't just for people of color. I took an exam for religion and demolished it, and have been studying my arse off and preparing to say farewell to my roommate, Patrick, who'll be studying abroad next semester #foreveralone. That's me. Get ready for next week, when I make it back to Ohio - video posts will return with my sister as a guest star, chubby bunny & cinnamon challenges coming on up!

Being a teenager is all about taking time for yourself. It's about keeping sanity and making it through the hardest of the year. You made it this far, there's no way going to fail - if only you take it easy and do you. Not everyone studies the same way, the sooner you realize that the better. Keep doing your own thing, but take it seriously. Make that crucial time for a study break.

 

 

My blog post question for the day is ... how do you relax from the stress if finals? I'm all about that social media and watching TV. I'll refresh my feeds on Facebook, twitter and Instagram and read for hours (which is procrastination at its finest).