Hi everybody! I hope you’re all doing well. It’s been starting to cool down in Wellesley, so giving tours around campus hasn’t been nearly as painful as last week. Despite that, it’s important to remember to stay hydrated!
Today I just wanted to check in with y’all! I know that the school year is going to start soon (if it hasn’t already), so I wanted to use this blog post as an opportunity to ensure that you all are taking care of yourselves. During my senior year, I know that I definitely was not taking care of myself, and all aspects of your health—physical, emotional, mental—are intertwined, so it’s important to prioritize your overall health!
Referencing my senior year and what I neglected, I’ve created a short list that covers different aspects of a student’s well being that you can use to check how well you’re taking care of yourself:
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- Drinking at least 2 liters of water a day…hydration is key. Water’s a lot more important than you may think it is.
- Eating fruits and vegetables more often than not! Fiber is important to keep your body satiated and your mind clear.
- Eating 2-3 meals a day. Make sure your meals consist of healthy foods (it’s okay to eat some junk food now and then, though)! Your brain needs that fuel, and you’re going to suffer more in the long run if you skip meals to make time for studying, writing essays, etc.
- Getting the recommended 8-9 hours of sleep a NIGHT! Pulling all nighters may be tempting, but even if you stay up studying and cramming, you’re going to be too tired to even recall any of the material you covered. During senior year, I literally slept through every day for the entire year…it was really bad…
- Making time for yourself *and* your relationships. It can get really lonely if you’re constantly cooped up in your room working or doing things out of obligation rather than enjoyment (i.e. “I don’t want to volunteer at this event but I have to or else I won’t have one more thing to put on my college application”). I felt super lonely, especially during junior and senior years, because I had neglected my relationships and rarely did things I actually wanted to do, like go to the beach (and I lived in Hawaii…like come on). College applications are not something you should prioritize over your personal life!
- Reminding yourself that academics and college are not the only things you are meant to work toward. You might beat yourself up about not having good enough grades or compare your extracurriculars with someone else’s. I know I did. It’s important to be nice to yourself though, and it’s very, very important to remember that your grades, extracurriculars, or anything that goes on your college application are not a metric that you should be using to measure your worth. They don’t define you as a person, and they definitely don’t provide a comprehensive picture of you as a person.
- Destress, destress, destress!!! Sometimes you just need to sit in bed for a couple of hours and doom scroll on TikTok. Sometimes you need to sit on the grass with your toes out in the open while reading a good book. Whatever it is that helps you feel better and alleviate stress, do it!
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There are obviously more things that students could practice to improve their overall wellbeing, but those are my few tidbits for the list. Make sure to take care of yourself, especially during stressful times (like college app season or finals week), so that you can feel good, succeed, and also not end up sleeping through precious study time like my friend below…
Best of luck to you all!
Yewon