Be ready to take on your first day!
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As I am sure we all know, there has been a very much unwanted new presence floating from person to person this whole last year and a half. And boy, oh, boy, has that taken a toll on every aspect of our beings. One of these tolls being that school got forcibly put online.
I used to HATE even thinking about ever having to take an online class, but now it’s a funny thought that I ever managed to survive an in-person class.
As someone with a generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), navigating university, and school life in general, has always been a struggle.
Where do I go? Will there be anyone to help me? Will everyone hate me? What if the teacher is bad? What if I’m late? What if the classwork is too hard? What if I don’t make any friends? What if no one chooses me to be in their group? What if I fail? What if? What if? WHAT IF?
My mind and body are constantly in a battle with one another. No matter how many times I reassure myself that I will make it through, once the day comes that I must perform what feels like my charade as a student, my breath is taken from me. I feel as if Death, themself, has come to sweep me away in a romantic gesture to save me from the danger that is the outside world and all its “what ifs.”
But this isn’t death. And this isn’t the end of the world. It’s anxiety.
Anxiety can make you feel as if you don’t have any control over a situation, which makes you feel more of a need to be in control, but it’s not that easy. There isn’t always such a simple solution as putting all the control and responsibility on the anxious person, so they feel better. Because, trust me, they won’t!
We can’t control everyone else around us, but we can control ourselves. The more we focus on bettering ourselves, and the better we know ourselves, the easier it is to limit the effects of our anxieties.
And I am going to help you make it through this.
Now let’s think!
What do we need to sort out in order to be prepared to be on campus, for the first time since who knows when! (If ever)!
- Tidy Up
- Who Are You & Who Do You Want to Become?
- A Routine
- Appearance
- Supplies
- Make a Battle Plan
- Encourage Yourself
- Remember to Communicate!
Tidy Up
You need to clean. up. your. space!
Wipe off your desk, organize your books and shelves, go through your entire closet, etc. Basically, if it’s there, I want you to look at it and assess its purpose in your life, find an organized place to put it, and really think about everything that you have.
It may seem like a waste of time, and you may be wondering “what does this have to do with going back to school or helping me calm my mind? In fact, it’s causing more stress!”
Well, my dear reader, by tidying up our area we are left with a room that is easier to navigate and thus less inherently stress-inducing, but also, we are given a better idea of the resources we have to work with in order to prepare for this coming school year.
The preparation for a new school year is not only about finding a place to put our new books, it’s about ensuring that you are comfortable enough with yourself and your surroundings so that you feel safe enough to venture from your comfort zone.
Who Are You & Who Do You Want to Become?
Assessing your physical belongings is not enough. We need to assess deeper, to truly understand what we want to get out of life and how we are going to achieve that.
Ask yourself, “Who am I?”
Are you someone who loves helping others? Do you have a lifelong dream you want to fulfill? Are you feeling terribly lost and don’t know where/what to do next?
Better get to know your likes and dislikes, your visions for the future, and try to find any goal that would make getting through much easier.
Personally, my ultimate goal is to open an animal sanctuary. This very big goal is what all my other little goals tie back to. Having this locked in my mind helps me put into perspective how other things should be done so that my “ultimate” goal can be reached in a reasonable amount of time. So, throw it all out on the table and really think about what you want from life.
This will all aid in answering the next question.
Who do you want to become?
It is important that you answer this question honestly. Give yourself a realistic and achievable idea of a future you.
I don’t want to hear a celebrity’s name or the life of a person in your class, I want you to become the ultimate version of yourself!
Some examples of who you want to become can include:
- A more adventurous person
- Going hiking, trying more new things, hanging out with people you met at work/school
- A kinder person
- Going out of your way to help people in your everyday life, calling your loved ones more often
- Someone who gets. things. done.
- Not putting your wellbeing on the backburner and going all out to accomplish your goals
- A more confident person, etc.
A Routine
Creating a routine for yourself can really aid in giving you a better sense of control over your life. I have a physical planner that I set up every month to detail my schoolwork, appointments, chores, daily tasks, and reminders to keep everything at the front of my mind.
Check out how I set up my bullet journal by clicking HERE!
Without my planner, every day can feel like there are hundreds of tasks and I have no idea where to start, or if I’m actually accomplishing enough. This makes every day feel unfulfilled.
But, of course, a planner is only useful if you have something to plan. Which I know you do.
So, first things first, let’s make some goals for this routine.
When school starts, is there a specific time you need to wake up? Let’s work up to that by moving your sleeping schedule around.
If you’re currently waking up at 12 PM every day, and you’re going to have school at 9 AM, then you need to start accounting for things before we can determine when you need to start going to bed.
- How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?
- Do you need to do anything before going to class?
- How long does it take to get to school?
- How long do you need to sleep for to feel well rested?
- How long does it take you to fall asleep?
For me, I take around 45 minutes to get ready in the morning (especially if I haven’t chosen what I am going to wear). I don’t have anything I need to do before heading to class. It takes me around 35 minutes to get to school but I need 10 minutes to park and 10 minutes to get to class. I need around 8-9 hours of sleep to feel well-rested. And it can take me around an hour (or more) to fall asleep if I’m not exhausted.
So, using my schedule as an example, from the time I wake up to the moment school starts, it takes me 1 hour and 40 minutes. To give me a little leeway, maybe extra time for breakfast, I’ll round that time out and make it 2 hours. So, I need to get up at least 2 hours before class starts.
If my class is at 9 AM that means I need to get up at 7 AM at the latest. Counting back 9 hours that would dictate that I need to be in bed by 10 PM in order to have time to fall asleep and still wake up well-rested in the morning.
Once you have figured out your average time, you can start the process of sleeping a little earlier/later every day in preparation. Sleeping takes up a bulk of our day. We use it as a boundary of time. So, figuring out where that boundary starts and stops can very much help you plan out the rest of your day.
Are there any other things you want to incorporate into your day?
- Exercise
- Time with the family
- Chores
- A side business
- Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner
List these things out and make a realistic schedule that incorporates them. Creating a new everyday routine before starting a new stressful thing like school, can help you stay on task in the future considering you have had time to get used to a new schedule.
BUT! You don’t want to do too much all at once. This can (and usually does) get too overwhelming and leads to you dropping all your plans because it was just too much. Make it easy on yourself and start small.
If that means just slotting out time every day to do 1, 20-minute activity, then that is a great start!
Appearance
How you feel about how you look is important! For some, clothing is a way of showing the world a little about themselves without having to say a word. Some people don’t care at all what they are wearing.
Either way, you need to find what makes you feel the most confident and comfortable when going into a stressful environment.
Personally, I love wearing dresses, but on my first day of school, I always wear pants, because they make me stand out less.
As much as I am about being my true self no matter what, I can’t lie. Thinking that everyone is looking at you is really scary, and when your anxiety is in full swing, confidence doesn’t always burst out to say, “yeah I know I look good.” So as a precaution I pick clothes that are still me, and make that statement, but are a little more casual.
Alongside clothing is everything else that you see in the mirror. You want to be the most confident that you can be in such a difficult situation. Much like before, this means making you feel safe in your own body.
Think about all these aspects of your physical body.
- Hair
- Skin
- Nails
- Jewelry/Accessories
- Shoes
- Bags
- Etc.
Getting a haircut before school starts can definitely lead to a little confidence boost! Perhaps giving yourself a little spa day where you really treat your skin and hair with a mask.
Before this last semester started, I did my own gel nails at home and such a little thing made me realize how much more I started to use my hands in class because I wanted to show off my fun little nails.
Having all these aspects of your appearance sorted out in advance makes you even more prepared for not only school but other anxiety-inducing environments.
Supplies
This is a simple one. School supplies.
It is a relatively known thing that in university you don’t require as many things as you did in grade school. For the most part, some paper, a pen, and maybe a pencil are all you really need to get by.
But please please don’t forget! You don’t want to be stuck without something so simple, especially if everyone in the class kept to the basics, like you did, and only brought enough stationery for them.
It’s good to have extras just in case but even more importantly, try not to switch bags or what’s in your bags constantly. You might take something out and forget to put it back in. A normal mistake but it can cause quite the annoyance.
Find a bag you can dedicate to school. Keep all of your supplies in it, like a vault. When you use something from your bag don’t put it down on your desk when you’re done, put it back in your bag.
Make a Battle Plan
Give yourself flexible deadlines. I say flexible because there is no harm in you doing something later than planned, it’s just to keep you on a vague track. So, try to know in advance when you should have certain tasks completed.
Write out everything you want to have done and try to give yourself (at least) a week in advance to have time to accomplish everything on your list.
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Say you need to, shave, wash your hair, buy supplies, find your classes, fix your sleeping schedule, etc. I want you to assign big tasks like finding your classes to a whole day. Give yourself leeway. Smaller tasks like washing your hair may seem like it doesn’t even need to be written down, but it is a necessity in being prepared. On days when you have extra time, you can move your schedule forward.
The bulk of the battle is finding out what to do, and then how to do it.
Encourage Yourself
Pump yourself up! Just by having made it this far in this blog post shows me that you are already making strides towards becoming the you who you want to be.
Remember, this isn’t easy stuff. It takes time to build up to where you want to be, or even where you used to be before this pandemic, but you can’t let anxiety get in the way of your goals.
Get through your first day! Your first day will be the most difficult.
Remember to Communicate!
One last thing, before I send you out into the world unknown.
Don’t forget that people can be understanding. It is often easy to assume that you are alone in your fear and that no one will understand, but that just isn’t the case. If you are not feeling well in class due to anxiety or anything else, then leave. Heck! It’s college. But if it becomes a continued issue then try to find a lifeline in/out of class. Communicate with those around you about your struggles and give people insight into your life.
It’s hard to get help when nobody knows that you need it.
Now, good luck reader! I wish you the best!
Loved this! Very helpful for people who face the same daily struggles.
Thank you for your feedback! I’m very glad it was helpful~