How do I get motivation back after the break?

Claire: 

Welcome back from break everyone! I hope that all our readers had a restful break and are ready to kick off the semester strong. But if we’re being realistic, most of you are probably feeling a bit foggy and unmotivated about going back to classes. Sometimes it can feel like we’re stuck in an endless loop semester after semester. I know that for me, the return to school in the Spring semester can be particularly painful. The combination of bad weather, short days, and recent memories of last semester’s finals makes it hard to get excited about my new classes. I think the best thing you can do in this situation is to remember that this won’t go on forever, every semester we start and finish is one semester closer to being done with college. Although it is hard to get invested in a new wave of classes, remember why you’re doing this. I like to go back and think about the goals I had going into freshman year and how excited I would have been to see how far I’ve come since then. Ultimately, things will get better soon. The weather will warm up, the spring semester will fly past, and we’ll find ourselves once again in summer able to take a full break. We only go to college once and it’s very unlikely that we’ll ever experience an environment or opportunities like this ever again so try to enjoy it while it lasts and don’t forget to leave some time to have fun.

Ethan:

I’m going to be 100% honest, you really don’t. I could end my column there but I am obligated to hit my word count of approximately 250 to make the column fit in the print. From personal experience, it is almost impossible to gain motivation back after the break. For example, my writing for this column was due three hours ago, and I am still not thrilled to be doing it. Your best bet is to pray the semester treats you right because otherwise, you are in danger. The semester will always start off sluggish, but sometimes in the Spring it just does not get better. I hope you had an enjoyable winter break because there is very little enjoyment you are going to receive from this semester. I really wish I had a better answer to give you, but sometimes you have to play with the hand you are dealt. Your best bet is to try to spend the better part of this semester doing things that you enjoy. If you aren’t having fun in your spare time, this semester will really be miserable for you. My best and most serious advice is to try to enjoy your free time while you have it. Join a club or play a sport to try to make your evenings after class count while the semester picks up and you begin to fall behind. The best thing you can do is try to keep a positive attitude. Good luck!