Hi all,
Happy first week of October! Holy moly did September just fly by so quickly. The fall at Wellesley is one of the most beautiful times to see campus. The leaves start to turn to a pumpkin orange, and the campus feels like a fall wonderland. I am envious of everyone being able to experience it this semester!
While I will not be able to experience the beauty that is New England in the fall this year, there are many new experiences I have been lucky enough to experience abroad. The biggest change to my routine at Wellesley has been the addition of nightlife and social events that used to seem too intimidating to attend. Now five weeks into my adventure abroad, I am happy to report that my previous misconceptions about balancing school and social life have begun to be proven wrong. It sounds silly, but I used to think that I couldn’t have both. I really thought I couldn’t have good grades and a solid friend group that goes out at night and dances under tacky fairy lights. Building this balance between staying on top of work and allowing myself to jump on the opportunity to hang out with friends in this new environment has been challenging but so rewarding.
In order to create this balance (which certainly takes time AND grace), I like to sit down at the beginning of every school week and look at what my academic schedule for the coming week looks like. For example, I have class every day of the week, which on average takes up to say 12 hours of lecture, and then a handful of time for the preparation of readings and notes to start before class. Creating an outline of what my expectations are for the school week has helped me to manage my time and optimize the remaining time. For example, this week my friends and I knew we wanted to attend a students’ event on Monday night (a MONDAY, I know, right!? Past Anna would have been losing it at the thought 🤣). Knowing that I had four hours of class on Monday, I made sure to allocate my time outside of lecture to plan for my Tuesday responsibilities! This way I could enjoy a night of meeting new people and dancing under those silly string lights without feeling guilty or anxious about my schoolwork for the next day. Even better, I wouldn’t have been able to come across this brick wall that had all sorts of inspirational quotes and some just random. But “Dublin, you’re my favorite!” seems to be how I would sum up my trip so far.
Dicey’s Garden – student night!
Dublin, you’re my favorite!
While I would love to say that this method is totally foolproof, I would be stretching the truth a bit if I made that claim. Like I said before, it takes time to adopt a brand new style of routine, especially if it is something outside of one’s comfort zone, like it was for me. A big piece of this balance is giving myself grace to make mistakes and not perfect my exact plan every week. For example, if I miss one hour of prep for my class the next day, it will not take away from the fun I had with my friends the night before. Will it stink to feel like a piece of the puzzle was missing for a bit? Sure, it never feels good to not cross off every box on your mental to-do list, but sometimes it happens! Accepting the fact that not every plan is going to go exactly as I want truly has helped me to see this balance as what it is—the constant giving and taking of my time and energy to put it towards what I really want, which is to have fun and make the most of an opportunity! Hopefully this attempt to create a new routine may be helpful to others and go to show that allowing yourself to venture outside of your comfort zone doesn’t have to be a disaster. With a little planning and a lot of dancing, you too can create the life you want. 😁
Until next week,
Anna Tutek
Trinity at night