When I first had the idea for this column, it was out of pure adrenaline. I think that’s how I made most of my decisions in my first year. I followed through with a lot of my first instincts—sometimes it worked out, sometimes it didn’t.
That first-day-of-school anxiety was nothing new to me. The transition into college was a weird and rocky ride, and it was incredibly apparent in my fellow new-kid first years. A lot of the younger students wanted to latch on to that apathetic “I don’t give a shit” attitude they had in high school. Mixing that with the constant stress of post-secondary became incredibly toxic.
I know, we love to brag about not sleeping and eating salty garbage, but that dedication to treating yourself unkindly will blow up in your face. Whether physically or mentally, it just sucks believing that you need quick efficiency rather than quality treatment.
Of course, I’m the first person to roll my eyes to the back of my head when I hear platitudes like “Stay positive!” and “Good vibes only!” They feel more like cop-out answers to all of your problems. Staying positive isn’t going to fix my sleeping schedule.
What is going to help is taking action. Sleepless nights are generally fixed by changing my sheets. Exhaustion at the end of the day can be helped by fruit or protein. And that positive attitude? It’s telling yourself that you deserve it.
Don’t put your life on hold; don’t take your humanity away in favour of an okay grade. Celebrate the fact that you’re here now, doing school, and hopefully doing what you want to do. So what if you feel like a stupid baby surrounded by cool people who know what they’re doing with their lives?
You’ll grow into it, as long as you let yourself do so.