This year, Christmas came a few days after the public school students left for holidays.\u00a0 As a result, their days off stretched longer at the back end.\u00a0 Between Christmas and January 7, you get used to a new way of life that doesn’t include going to school.\u00a0 It can be a hard habit to break.<\/p>\n
Remembering my university days, January was always the toughest month for me.\u00a0 The weather was grey and dismal.\u00a0 It was so hard to face the cold, grey campus after the festive time of Christmas.\u00a0 The courses were\u00a0new, so you weren’t yet engaged with them.\u00a0 Bottom line:\u00a0 too many changes at once, against a dismal backdrop.<\/p>\n
I found that when February came, I usually felt much better.\u00a0 The weather was much better by then (of course we’re talking about Victoria, but up here is not too different).\u00a0 As well, I’d developed some attachment to my courses.\u00a0\u00a0Indeed, February was a much easier month.\u00a0 Momentum carried me through March – in spite of its avalanche of new material.<\/p>\n
Life is about habits.\u00a0 Good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant, you’ll likely continue a habit.<\/p>\n
Here, then, are some of my hints about weathering the month of January:<\/p>\n
Years ago, I recall seeing a student handbook on the ground.\u00a0 When I picked it up, it opened to a page that showed the principal and vice principal pointing out\u00a0at the reader.\u00a0 They were smiling.\u00a0 The caption read “Remember:\u00a0 every day counts.”<\/p>\n
Those two people understood about habits\u00a0– and\u00a0that attending school needs to be one of them.<\/p>\n
Good luck this January.\u00a0 I’ve been there and I know it’s tough.<\/p>\n