The middle of the semester is upon us and you can see the burnout of the student body as you walk around campus — everyone is a little more subdued and a lot more stressed than in previous weeks of the semester. As we move toward midterms and the semester continues full speed ahead, everything can become a little overwhelming and students may begin to put their own needs on the back burner.
If you feel yourself burning-out or starting to get overwhelmed with schoolwork, make sure that you’re practicing self-care.
Self-care starts with making sure that you’re taking care of your body.
Do not forego sleep for studying — your body needs sleep in order to convert your memories into long term memories and store all of the information that you’re trying to cram in anyway, so you’ll be more cranky and more stressed without the payoff you were hoping to get by studying all night before the exam.
Make sure that you’re eating well and hydrating properly so that your body has all of the fuel it needs to get through the day.
Self-care can also be knowing when to ask for help.
If you don’t understand something for an exam, ask your professor to go over the concept with you again instead of stressing yourself out about it.
Take advantage of the services offered by the Academic Advancement Center from tutoring to teaching study skills.
Utilize the mental health resources we have on campus. Counseling and Psychological Services is located on the third floor of Hudson Health Center (between Voigt and Glidden) and offer "Drop In" hours from 9:45 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Counselor-In-Residence office is in room 160 on the first floor of the Living Learning Center and offers "Let’s Talk" hours from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Friday.
These are good places to go to talk through what is going on in your life and process it with someone.
While at Ohio University, people say that we’re students first; however, when we say that we forget that we are people before we are students and that our needs and wellness have to be a priority.
Jordan Kelley is a senior studying student development. How do you stay healthy during mid-terms? Email him at jk771913@ohio.edu.
