Wisdom Wednesday #13 - Grueling Academics

Welcome to Wisdom’s Wednesday’s thirteenth edition! I hope all of you are accustomed to academic life upon the end of Winter Break as it ties to the topic I will be discussing in this edition. Covering academic life’s responsibilities and the negative effects of overworking yourself, it is crucial to implement kindness and rest during this stressful time of applications and midterms.

As a student in general, yet specifically to high schoolers, it is a difficult task to perceive this myriad of upcoming exams this month. As midterms are around the corner and studying for such detrimental tests, the average student forgets or rejects the concept of taking a break. This is especially true for students with other responsibilities outside of the classroom like clubs, familial needs, et cetera. You begin to go insane over certain assignments, applications that haven’t been completed yet, figuring out what's next opportunity-wise, and on top of that upcoming exams. Speaking from personal experience, this month has been profusely and uncomfortably busy with a calendar tracking every hour of my day. It’s confining to be so involved and grappled with tasks yet passion shines through. It is amazing to garner satisfying marks, activity within your community, and to keep to your passions in moderation. As an academic, athlete, or anything else with intensive time commitments, overwhelming sentiments flood in a grand mentally unsafe way. Academic stress leads to an infinite sum of repercussions and side effects whether physical, mental, or spiritual. This a leading cause of depression according to various sources like the University of Rochester Medical Center, HealthDirect, and more so how can aware teenagers subject themselves to such self-destruction? 

It is enlightening to perceive your life and goals from a different perspective and constantly question yourself regarding the idea of priority. Recognizing such is a benevolently easy pathway to granting yourself kindness and much-needed rest. Understanding how deadlines, interests, and more can factor into how motivated and efficient you are when completing a task. The average individual according to the India Times is more physiologically inclined to complete an object once pressured by a deadline, even though it’s a corrupt and unnecessarily mentally demanding mechanic, it is human and repeated without acknowledgment. So to reiterate a cliche, ‘take it one step at a time’, ingrain that philosophy every time once overstimulated for it can often be avoided with minuscule focus and planning. Procrastination is not healthy and this method is not embraced yet getting to understand how you work best, possibly under pressure or not, should be utilized especially when running under a strict schedule. Self-kindness is a conceptual practice that can be prioritized daily by simply giving yourself five-minute breaks to however much time you need. As this argument is supposed to be fluid and loosely interpreted, creativity and self-consciousness are key factors when it comes to shaping your rest. It will differ from person to person, yet, be honest with yourself as to how you can deal with accounting your work ethic, and process.

Continuing your faith to initiatives, interests, and passions is a fundamental clause as well. Giving yourself breaks for however long you require for ideal mental work conditions should not deter you from chasing any object you were before implementing kindness in a subjective form whether it be self-care days, recultivating your study process, or taking a standard fifteen-minute break every hour. It is purely of the nature of balance that will assist your mental health to a myriad of other effects sprung by tireless and unhealthy nights working. To overwork yourself is unacceptable yet the idea of work is subjective thus planning, journaling, drawing, working on a personal project might be your free-time equivalent. Freeing expression or relieving time is open to interpretation thus your passions not involving school might not be considered work. It is imperative to get the gist of this theory since it would be wrong to steal things you enjoy to do which does not cause stress away from you. But this theory is limited though, for some creating art or working on a passion project is mentally draining work for some, you understand what takes mental energy so you can block your free time out to offer as much solace as possible. Never stop the tenacity toward your interests or personal goals, the culmination of both life academic and personal should be congruent. 

In sum, kindness should be an conceptual object implemented constantly, especially during academically or personally challenging times. It is okay and I encourage you to take breaks in moderation, you can apply that to working as well. Balance is key to success when facing grueling academics and hardships.