Jana: January and February are hands-down the hardest months of the school year, and it is generally an extremely rough time to get through. My piece of advice is to make sure that you have a good balance of attention spent on school work but also for fun. I suggest trying to hang out with your friends and getting out of the house multiple times a month. It is very enticing to stay inside and become anti-social during these winter months, but this usually just ends with leaving you in a depressed mood. I’d try to plan events ahead of time; it can even be something easy and cheap like watching a movie at someone’s house or playing games together. There are a lot of fun winter activities in Omaha too, like ice skating downtown, sledding in Memorial Park, and skiing at Mount Crescent. In conclusion, having fun in the dark and cold months of early first semester is just as important as paying attention in school and getting good grades.
Katie: When you make New Year’s resolutions, do you feel like a superhero ready to conquer the world? For about two weeks, anyway. That feeling is like a shot of espresso, giving you all the energy you need—until, poof! It vanishes. This initial boost is what keeps me going at the start of a new semester. However, this year may be the toughest yet, as being a senior has left me feeling unmotivated to do much of anything, especially with the need to return to school and learn more. Despite this, my advice for this month is to set some goals for yourself at the beginning of the year. This way, you can channel that confidence from feeling like you’re on the path to becoming the best version of yourself ever.
Tanya: It’s so hard to get back into the swing of school in January. By that point, it feels like everything is dragging, and I’m so done with school and ready to graduate already. The cold, long days add to the terribleness of those months. The one thing that helps me is finding small things to look forward to, like hanging out with friends, planning a cozy night after school, or even just taking it day by day instead of thinking about the whole semester ahead. It’s okay to feel unmotivated, so I recommend finding the little joys and pushing through for those.
William: January for me is the worst month of the year. Coming back to school in January is very hard and it’s so hard to get back into the swing of things. During winter break my sleep schedule usually is going to bed at 1 or 2 am and waking up at 11 or 12. So on the final 4 days of winter break I try to start waking up earlier. On the 4th day I’ll wake up at 10, on the 3rd day I wake up at 9 and so on. This helps me slowly ease into a normal school sleep schedule. Doing this is very helpful for making the start of the school year much easier. Going into school in January with your winter sleep schedule is never a good idea so I recommend you try out my strategy, it really works.
