Spring semester is upon us, folks. A new semester means a chance to reorganize and prioritize goals (read: get your stuff together), so I’m trying to take advantage of a fresh start. Over break, I did some thinking—albeit in between naps—about how I want this spring to go. I came up with a few thoughts, and all of my plans fell under one underwhelming but appropriate and accurate overarching goal: Don’t devolve into a lazy sloth. It’s been known to happen to the best of us, but this spring I am determined not to end up hooked on a trashy CW drama covered in Dorito dust.
Here’s the game plan:
Work out regularly
Executing this goal will require some deception on my part. For two years now, I have told myself, and others, “I LOVE running.” This is a lie. In fact, I HATE running. I go as far as to tell myself how refreshed I feel after running the track at the SERF. As “refreshing” as it is to breathe in that sweet blend of stale air and old feet, jogging the SERF track is not my idea of a super swell afternoon. But, as much as I’d rather be watching “The Vampire Diaries”—uh, I mean, “Breaking Bad”—I want to stay healthy. So, on that note, I LOVE RUNNING.
Don’t mimic the eating patterns of a grizzly bear
Experts say protein is what keeps you full/stops you from “snacking” on an entire package of Oreos. However, cooking actual protein-rich dishes requires culinary skills I have yet to master. So, after a trip to Woodman’s, I’ve stocked up on “delicious” protein-rich snack bars that I have assured myself won’t taste like chocolate-flavored hotdogs. I also picked up a box of what looks like brown gravel. The label tells me it’s a cinnamon-sugar cereal, but we’ll see. Eat up, Rachel!
Study on weekend mornings
Doing this requires:
1. An alarm clock without a snooze button: The snooze button lets us believe we are going to get up early while also enabling us to sleep until noon. I tell myself, “Oh, I’ll set the alarm for 8:20, snooze a couple times and be out the door before 9:30.” False. Fifteen snoozes later, and I have slept through the whole morning. An alarm clock without a snooze button is my only hope of getting out the door before it’s late enough for me to decide just to stay home and eat lunch.
2. A coffee pot: Drink coffee, get work done. I have used this philosophy throughout college and will continue to follow its guidance.
3. Relevant books: Bringing 20 pounds of books but not the only one that I need? Fail. But that never happens.…
Plan rest of life
Before we get too far into this semester, I need to begin stressing out about getting summer internships and where I want to live once school’s out. Fortunately, though, my family is very supportive in this area. They make sure I stay on track by asking helpful, direct questions like: “You aren’t going to work at that gross summer camp again, are you?” “So, what do you plan to do with a JOURNALISM degree?” and “HAVE YOU GOTTEN AN INTERNSHIP YET?!” Needless to say, they help me keep my chin up.
After writing this out, I can say it all seems doable. A few laps here and there and a couple choco-hotdog protein bars should keep my energy up. And really, my classes this semester are all interesting enough that I’m sure I’ll want to read the textbooks every night, right? Once I’m on a roll, I’ll feel naturally motivated to write those personal statements for internships.
Welp, it’s still syllabus week, so I guess I’ll just make myself a little snack and watch some Netflix before classes start to pick up.
Do you like eating Cheetos while watching “Pretty Little Liars” in your underwear? Keep Rachel motivated by dropping her an email at rmschulze@dailycardinal.com.