2017 was a weird year in many ways that I won't dwell on - lots of anxiety and stress and a severe lack of confidence. All the more reason to make 2018 a better year! And some exciting but scary things are going to happen in 2018! I will be moving out of my current apartment (since my co-renter is leaving I will have to find something as well) and I'll be writing my thesis and hopefully graduate and find a nice job somewhere! How crazy is that?
To improve my 2018 and make it significantly better than 2017, I've come up with some New Year's Resolutions and Goals. 1. Get my driver's license and buy a car - this is quintessential to the moving to a new apartment-plan, since the city I might live in is a half hour's drive from the city where I have my driving lessons. 2. Move out and get my own apartment - whether this be with my sister or with my boyfriend or on my own, I am moving to a new place and it's going to be stressful but rewarding, and I'll finally have a place that's 100% my own and I won't have to deal with flatmates! How exciting! I haven't found anything yet, and it'll be six months still before I'll have to move out, but I'm looking around just because! And that's so exciting! Have my eye on a new building complex which looks great! Eeek! 3. Write an awesome thesis and graduate - I'm as we speak planning a little bit of a course next semester that is about thesis preparation - as a part of it I'll have to read a classical text independently and I've decided to read a part of Tacitus' Annals because I want to write a thesis about historiography. So that's finally taking some shape! The exact theme of my thesis I'm not sure about yet. I don't know if I want to focus on one emperor in particular and research about him, or if I want to do something more thematic through the entire text. The role of women in the Empire is something that I think would be very interesting! Excited! 4. Read more about anxiety and ways to deal with this - I'm currently reading The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a Fuck by Sarah Knight, and while the message is probably alright, I'm not such a big fan of the language and style. Too much 'don't you fucking dare to give a fucking fuck of a fuck about that fucking thing', I prefer normal words. But anyway, I'm just flipping through and seeing if I can read through the fucks. Additionally I ordered The Anxiety Solution by Chloe Botheridge, which I read a few pages from when I saw it in a bookshop. It seemed more my kind of style. So we'll see. But at the moment I'm letting my anxiety dominate a little too much and I need to get it more toned down! So that's a goal for next year! 5. Become more decisive - this of course relates to the previous resolution, but I made it a separate point because this is really my number one issue in life. I'm always trying to not-offend anyone by making everything their choice. A 'what do you want to eat'- is just about the most difficult question in the universe. I'm joking of course, but only partly. I've really experienced a lot of difficulties with decision-making this year, ranging from the food-question to what I want to do after I get my BA. For now my post-BA plans are not to do a MA immediately just because I don't know what MA I would like to do. But I think becoming more decisive will massively improve my life in 2018. If anyone has tips on this, you know where to find me! 6. Say 'yes' and 'no' more - get off your lazy ass and go out with people when they ask you. Quit with the anxious thinking and just go and have fun. On the other hand, say no more when people ask you to do things you don't want to. Tadaa, it's easy. 7. Become active in politics - I come from a political nest and I've always been proud of my political stance. This year I hope to become active with a political party because I would really like to be a local politician one day. I might start helping with campaigns or do administration or whatever. Just anything would be fun I think! 8. Don't stress out so much and just have fun - often my worries get in the way of having fun, and I'll get massively stressed out and my (and other peoples') day gets ruined. This is so unnecessary when I could just be having fun! Have more fun! This is my ultimate New Year's Resolution! I'm excited to see what 2018 is going to bring me. For sure it's going to be better than 2017. There may be stress and anxiety but a lot of awesome things as well and I mean to focus on them! Best wishes to you all, Vera
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Recently, a shocking research was published and shook up all of the Netherlands: 75% of all students were supposedly suffering from emotional exhaustion due to juggling education, work and a social life. To me it hardly came as a shock, having experienced some proper emotional exhaustion due to university life as well. So what are my strategies to keep hold of my sanity?
1. Plan, plan, plan! Find yourself a good diary, a desk planner, or anything that you think works to keep up with all of your coursework. I highly recommend sitting down one afternoon before your semester starts, printing out all of your schedules and organizing all of your required reading. Put all of your deadlines down in your planner and just take some time to flip through your coursework. It allows you to keep an overview and makes things relative, which is important so that you won't lose yourself in the heat of the studying-moment, and can always keep a clear head. I usually sit down once a week and look at all the things I have coming up in the next week. This way I can schedule it in next to my work schedule, my driving lessons, and my other social engagements. 2. Prepare for your classes! Seriously though, it may seem obvious, but I can't stress enough how important it is to prepare for all your classes. It makes you understand lectures better, you can ask questions, you won't have to catch up on readings just before your exams, and also because your lecturer will like you! Seriously, this is pretty important! What if you fell ill right before the exams? What if you don't understand something completely and want to ask at the last moment? A lecturer will go much further for a student that works hard and is well prepared, than someone who doesn't. 3. Reward yourself! So you've made your weekly planning, you've worked hard, you're well prepared and on track. You've been working long shifts. You've been up late, or you've woken up very early. It's important that you don't pass yourself by. I am firmly against that babyboomer-outlook on life that it's somehow insensible to spend money on yourself in the moment. Buy that Starbucks coffee you like so much, get yourself a new red lipstick. Take a night off and binge that new show (Alias Grace! Watch it!) Treat yourself, or it will become too much. 4. It's all relative! University is really all relative. This is what you should understand. It's good to want to do well, and it's good if you do do well. But once you get into the obsessive about wanting to achieve the highest, the best, etc., then you should REALLY take a step back and look at what you're doing - it's important to recognize that there are invisible mental boundaries and that you shouldn't cross them for your own sanity. Learn to accept that sometimes you can only do your best, and that's all. A grade is not worth sacrificing your health, your sleep, your eating for. You are more important than grades. Take a step back if you're feeling it's getting too much for you. That being said, I won't claim that I am the perfect anxiety-free student that this may make me seem. Neither am I an expert on this subject. I myself feel overwhelmed and anxious sometimes, but reminding myself that it pays to work with a good schedule and keep in mind that it's relative, really helps me to stay on track and put any stressful feelings I have behind my. So I hope that these tips will provide some help for those struggling with Academics related stress. Lots of love, Vera |
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