Photo Credit: Liz Sauerbrunn's "College Graduation |
In order to make the best out of this final semester, I've decided to come up with some "hacks" to make getting through the end of my college career a little simpler and hopefully more fun. But coming up with these hacks means nothing if I don't hold myself accountable so at the end of the week I'll be posting updates on how successful I've been at overcoming my senioritis. Here are the hacks I'll be using this week:
- Find your passion project: I think what is holding me back the most with my school work is that I don't really feel passionate about the work I'm doing. Constantly reading things that I don't care about or resonate with gets me down, and I don't feel obliged to struggle on. However, if I take time out of my busy schedule to do something that sparks ideas and promotes creativity, I find it a lot easier to get back into the boring doldrums of regular work because my mind has be stimulated again.
- Start a countdown: As a visual learner, I've found that the best way to remind myself that graduation is close is to put up a calendar, mark the day of graduation, and cross out the days that have passed. This way I can actually see myself getting closer to graduation and not get stuck on how much work is left to do. I can see that in the scheme of my lifetime, I'm so close to starting the next chapter that I feel the immediate weight of readings, papers, and tests lifted off my shoulders. I recommend using a printable calendar, posting it on a bulletin board, and marking each day off with a neon pink sharpie
- Network: Whenever I find myself feeling bored by academia, I look for opportunities to network. Talking to people who have finished their degree and are living their dreams is an ideal way to gain inspiration and potential contacts. I would recommend going to any networking events that your alumni relations office holds because you get to see people who
survivedgraduated from your school and have most likely been prosperous. Bonus: These events usually have free food, which is perfect considering your student loans will start looming soon enough.