School's Out for the Summer...

Are you making the most of your summer break?

Hey everyone and welcome to The College Insider, your source for getting the most out of your college experience, accountability coaching, and transformative strategies for managing your workload.

It’s the middle of summer here in North America, which for many students, means a break in between school semesters. A lot of students are balancing summer employment, earning money for college, with enjoying the brief interlude of no schoolwork and enjoying time with friends and family.

Before the sun sets on summer

I’m spending part of my summer working, which may seem counterintuitive but it gives me renewed energy and a dose of reality to bring back to the classroom for my students each year. As an instructor, working helps me maintain connection with my industry and what the latest trends are. More importantly, working pushes me out of my comfort zone and helps me connect to what it’s like to be a student – experiencing something new. I’m extremely fortunate as I get to work with some of my former students (more on that at a later date). I will also be enjoying some much needed down time with family and friends in the next month, I love summer and the warm sunshine we are fortunate to get here in Canada.

This post is part of a series in the College Bound Countdown for those starting or returning in the Fall. A few reflections I’ve put together which I hope will inspire you to get the most out of college and life. Wherever you are, I hope you are making the most of the summer.

Each year the summer seems to fly by quicker than I expect and I find it helpful to just jot down a few things I’d like to do before September rolls around and school starts again. Hopefully this will inspire you to write down a few things you’d like to do this summer before heading to school.

“Change is coming...”

It’s straightforward to write a list of things to do but it’s important to have balance, to have a range of activities that fall into different categories. If you are starting college for the first time this year, you may be thinking about how familiar life, friends, family, and routines have felt and how a lot will change when you start college. To cope well with change, our bodies and minds require different tasks…. It’s helpful to mix things up and incorporate activities that include something fun, relaxing, mentally and physically charging, and something that pushes you a little out of your comfort zone.

Something fun… creating happy memories, doing things that bring joy. We went fishing at the lake last year and it was so great to see the kids’ faces – the antipication and the pure joy they had at seeing the beautiful fish before releasing them back into the water. Any day by the ocean or lake for me is restoring – just the sound and sight of the waves help my system reset in ways that recharge me. Seeing the kids play on the beach and get creative is so much fun.

Something relaxing… I read a lot, mainly for work/research or improving some aspect of life – but reading a memoir or fiction is super relaxing. After this past year and a half of lockdown, a relaxing day away is a good plan, I love the kids but a relaxing dinner out with Mr. Z somewhere lovely would be a great tonic for the soul this summer.

Mentally charging… Reading a book and learning how to improve some aspect of myself, my habits, my systems is always good. Living by the mantra of lifelong learner, I don’t think will ever diminish. To push myself mentally, I want to learn some aspects of the LMS, the Learning Management System my students use. Especially since the pandemic restrictions sent a lot of our lectures and theoretical content online, the more I experience it from a student’s perspective, the more I can improve the ways they absorb and retain the material/content.

Physically charging… Incorporating Yoga and stretching into a regular schedule would be beneficial. When I do Yoga I always feel much better, but somehow I never stick at doing it regularly. Walking 20,000 steps daily when I’m working usually happens organically from the physical nature of the work I do, so on my non-work days – I’m trying to hit 10,000 steps a day.

Out of my comfort zone… I have a love/hate relationship with this one! I hate the feeling at the same time as loving the benefits that come from being out of my comfort zone. My technology skills have room for improvement, and sometimes the frustration gets the better of me (I always expect to do better than the rate I’m learning especially with things like social media) so I am hoping to practice learning more about YouTube and posting videos with less frustration with more grace for myself. Also an extra contract job will be something new and canoeing on the lake this year. (not a fan of deep water and not seeing my feet) let’s hope I stay in the canoe rather than the lake!

Mixing activities that fall into these categories is a great way to get a balance of rest and rejuvenation, a combination of self-care and joy, especially important after this past year where pandemic restrictions have impacted everyone is many different ways. Much education has been disrupted, so including things that activate your brain and push you will re-engage your senses and prime you for college in a fun way. I also look forward to some days with nothing to do, my deep breath days! I'm not going to feel bad or be hard on myself if I don't do them all. I just like a list as a reference point, a guide, so I don't start school thinking, I wish I had done this or that.

What would you like to do before the summer is over? What would be fun/relaxing/mentally charging/physically charging and out of your comfort zone for you? Use the blank template to see what you can come up with… wherever you are – I hope you are able to make the most of your summer….

Before the sun sets on summer.pdf

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