Winter is a hard time to be a student, with bad weather and finals just around the corner, and it seems like every year we end up doing nothing about it and suffering for that inaction, whether that be because we do not know what to do or because we do not know how. But what is there to do? When our days are short and our weather is rainy, it can be overwhelming. It may feel like there is nothing that we can do.
In reality, there are a lot of different actions we can take to maintain our grades and our mental health as winter kicks into full effect. Some are minor, like a visit to tutoring during lunch, while others are more major and involve a dynamic restructuring of your day-to-day life. These actions include:
Going to the ARC for help with academics. The ARC, located on the second floor of the F building, has tutors ready to help from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays; from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Wednesdays; and from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM on Fridays. They cover most subjects, and “[s]tudents are welcome during GAEL period, lunch, and after school” to drop in for tutoring.
Going to the Wellness Center for help with emotions and mental healthThe Wellness Center, located next to the tennis courts and the dirt track, is a place where students can talk to a counselor or just sit and de-stress. It is open from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays; from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Wednesdays; and from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Fridays. Walk-in counselor meetings are possible, but as the counselors are often busy, there is an appointment form available. If you fill it out, you will later get an email from the Wellness Center suggesting possible meeting times, and once you pick a time you will be sent a pass (if that time is during classtime). Everything in the Wellness Center is confidential unless someone is currently being harmed or in immediate danger. The Wellness Center and both counselors are queer-friendly and non-judgemental, and nothing is too big or small a deal to talk about if it bothers you. If you do not want to talk, that is okay too — they have an area for you to sit and decompress, with a couple fidgets and a communal puzzle available, if you just feel overwhelmed.
Some days, getting work done is easy. Others, however, it may feel like our classes are competing for every last one of our waking seconds. “But how do I fix this?” you may ask. “I only have so many hours in a day, and doing my work quicker is not an option.” Well, you are in luck, because time budgeting can help you get that eight hours of studying to a less horrifying six, a difference of two whole hours every day from just a few minutes of planning.
First, list out everything you have on your plate. This includes class assignments, test studying, club commitments, and everything else you are required to do. Organize this list by due date, with tighter deadlines towards the top. Divide your list into tasks you can do in around an hour, tasks you can do in around fifteen minutes, and multi-hour projects. If you have something due today or tomorrow, do those tasks first, starting with the one that takes the least amount of time.
Now, you can stop at that step and just go to bed, but if you have time, there are two different ways for you to approach the work you have left, similar to how finance experts recommend the snowball and avalanche methods for repaying debt. You can go with the snowball method and pick off the quickest tasks first. This can help you increase your motivation and get you “on a roll” to complete more tasks quicker. You can also go with the avalanche method and do the most important tasks (a.k.a. the ones worth the most points) first. This can help you decrease your stress and get you the highest grade possible.
Finally, take a deep breath and a step back and look back at everything you have done so far. We are almost at the end of semester one. You have come so far, and you can keep going. Winter may be bleak and bleary, but there is a strong community at Dublin High School to support you. Good luck, my fellow students, and know that you are not alone, not in academics and not in socials. We can make it through. We can do it.