By Ashlyn Beck | Staff Writer
One thing I can always count on is that the better the weather gets, the worse my ability to stay on top of schoolwork gets. Once it hits 80 degrees, the seasonal depression leaves and unfortunately takes my last shred of motivation with it — and it was just a shred of it that survived the winter.
It seems so unfair that all of my professors want me to go to class and study when the outdoors are bearable for the first time in months — and not only bearable but actually enjoyable. It becomes all too easy to take a “mental health day” and skip every class to go to Mamaka Bowls (I’ve done this more than once in the last month). Then again, the impending doom of finals lurks in the back of my mind, ready to waltz up to the forefront as soon as I get too relaxed. It is truly a hard life we college students lead.
The good news is I think I’ve found a cure to the spring lack of motivation, and that’s to skip class. I know, I know. You’re probably thinking, “How does skipping class solve the problem of skipping too much class?” To that, I say that skipping class isn’t the real problem. The real problem is the weather is too pretty not to skip class to take advantage of it.
When my friends and I are overwhelmed with work and losing motivation quickly, we like to get in the car and take a day trip. It might look like my advice is simply to run away from your problems, but that’s not it at all. Sometimes, all you need is a day of fun to get yourself motivated again and to forget about all the stress for a bit.
Waco isn’t exactly the Cayman Islands, but it is central. You can drive an hour and a half to Austin, Fort Worth and College Station. I’ll admit, they aren’t exactly the Cayman Islands either, but they’re different from the norm. You can go to Zilker Park and play sand volleyball with a view of the Austin skyline. You can thrift in downtown Fort Worth and walk around the city. You can go to Texas A&M and experience a day in the life of an Aggie (although I don’t recommend this one). If absolutely necessary, stay in Waco and find something fun or relaxing to do.
The point is, one of the biggest cures for losing motivation is taking a day off. You might as well do it on a school day because, let’s face it, you were probably going to skip class anyways. If absolutely necessary, you can just go somewhere else and do homework. I speak from personal experience when I say studying for a test at Moody Memorial Library and studying for a test at one of the many coffee shops in Austin are not the same at all.
Sometimes, a little break from routine is just what we need, and Waco is central enough to some major cities that you can have a full day and still get back in time to get enough sleep for your 8 a.m. the next morning. And if you won’t listen to me, listen to Maya Angelou: “Each person deserves a day in which no problems are confronted, no solutions searched for. Each one of us needs to withdraw from cares which will not withdraw from us.”