I am in the midst of my spring break, and I feel completely unmotivated to do anything.
I'm sure there are other students out there that can empathize with this feeling- whether you're in high school, college, or grad school, it always seems that midway through spring semester is when everyone's motivation is at an all-time low. It's terrible, right? You're close enough that you can see the end is in sight, but it's not quite close enough yet that you feel that final push to get your life together and finish strong.
Personally, I've found that type of motivation doesn't really begin to kick in until a week or two before finals. I wouldn't say that I'm someone who performs well under enormous amounts of stress, but I do need to have a little bit of pressure to motivate me to buckle down and do what needs to be done so that I finish the semester with the grades that I want.
Spring break is kind of the biggest tease when it comes to school breaks in college because you're still in the middle of your classes. Sure, midterms have probably wrapped up by the time spring break starts, but unlike during winter break, when there is literally no work to be done and you're essentially free from the pressures of tests and assignments for 4 weeks, teachers still assign homework because, hey, you have a week off but the semester is still in session.
If you have a naturally guilty conscience like I do, spring break can seem especially stressful because even though you are lacking the energy to do anything even remotely productive, the amount of work you have to complete by the end of the week is still lurking in the back of your mind and no amount of Netflix or YouTube can really drown that out (Believe me, I've tried and I've got an internet history full of fan-made amv's to prove it.)
I will say this year my spring break is a little different because I'm spending it studying abroad in Spain. I kicked off the first three days by attending a tour of Morocco, which was an absolutely wonderful experience, but when I arrived back in Granada at 1:00 a.m. on Sunday morning,
I quickly found that I had little to no energy left. I was so drained from the weekend leading into my spring break that I decided I would allow myself the next 2 days to essentially be a bum. Not worry about homework, not set an alarm to wake up by 9:00 a.m., and not bother to change out of my pajamas for most of the day.
It's true, most people during their spring break abroad do use this time to travel to other countries for most of the week, and I've been asked multiple times why I decided to mainly stay in place for mine. I suppose the answer lies in a few factors; traveling and lodgings are expensive, I need to focus on self-care and getting enough sleep at night, and this also seems like the perfect opportunity to experience Spain during Semana Santa (Holy Week) as the primarily Catholic country prepares for Easter.
This article has definitely come across as a bit jumbled, and I do apologize for that, but I guess it's an accurate reflection of where my head is at the moment. Half wishing I was still in bed, half worried about finishing up my homework by next week, and glancing out the window, longing to soak up some sun that I've been waiting for throughout the rainy month of March. It's a lot to process, to say the least, but I guess I wouldn't be a college student on spring break without feeling this way.
