Abby Jadali
27 August 2019
If you decided to take the path that involves you going to college, then you know how important it is to take that commitment seriously. And when I say commitment, I mean it because with all the time and money you are spending to make this dream a reality, it deserves your attention. But even with that, students can sometime forget that the one thing in their life that needs all their attention is themselves.
Psychology Today remindPrios us of two injunctions by Socrates: care for oneself and know oneself. These ideas are the steppingstones that we, as students, should follow during our university career. Prioritizing who we are as well as our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing is the only way we can live a self-fulfilling life.
Staying up late every night studying, skipping meals in order to add in more time for homework and isolating ourselves from the world to work nonstop on a project are not healthy situations to be put in.
We work that hard, because we want to get good grades. Spending all that money means you don’t want to flunk out and waste money on a class you didn’t pass, but in working too hard you run the risk of burning yourself out faster than you should have.
The moment you burn out, there is no more will or want to get things done and finish projects to the best of your ability. You are now spending nights not sleeping due to stress, your projects are taking longer to complete, and the quality is lacking because of it.
Prioritizing yourself isn’t even as hard as you may think. It can be simple actions like taking an hour-long break to sit and relax or even to just grab something to eat. But it can also be something as intense as taking yourself out to dinner or going out with friends for a few hours before you start back up.
Personally, I find that putting time aside at night is one of the easiest and best things you can do. Taking time at night is a good idea because you are winding down from the day you just had and giving yourself an hour or so to watch TV, go on your phone, read a book, take a bath or just lay in bed and think. Doing these things calms your mind and your body so you aren’t going to sleep with so many stressors plaguing your mind.
The idea of putting ourselves above everything we do can make us feel selfish, but it is not selfish to take care of yourself.
Even though you are spending thousands of dollars on school, your own wellbeing is the most important thing to think about. From personal experience, I know that it’s hard to think that way, but it is the easiest way to mentally make it through the craziness that is college.
Putting yourself first doesn’t have to be a huge endeavor, but it should be a priority in your day to day life. It’s not a selfish act and it doesn’t mean you don’t care about your studies; it’s just showing yourself that you care about your own wellbeing.