Quarter time 2023

Finally, that's the end of the first term of school.

Review

Not bad. Could've been better, but definitely could've been worse. I guess that main thing is that this was more of an introductory term, so the overall workload was less and there wasn't too much to worry about. Past years have indicated that I normally start the year off strong, however I fall back in Term 2 a bit because that's when the real grind starts.

I'm glad that I was able to not constantly focus on school and take lots of interest into things happening outside of learning, something which I've not really done before.

Disconnecting school

Every holiday, I try my best to make the most of the time to rest, talk, catch up with friends outside of school. To aid this, this might sound slightly condescending, but I try to distance myself from anything school related at all (maybe including classmates). I feel like thinking of school just stresses me out more and is not very beneficial for my mental health.

Instead, I find that talking to people outside of school and just focusing on things that I like (e.g. tech or soccer) really helps me. Slight problem is that I might be getting too into social media, like browsing reels has become one of my coping measures, but I don't believe it is very healthy.

Unfortunately, with 3/4 exams fast approaching for both the end of this year and next year, these term holidays won't be valued as much as opportunities for rest, but instead just a break from formal classes. Additionally (disclaimer: this is no one's fault), due to the insanely competitive and sweaty nature of basically everyone, there may be a need to actually grind over the holidays, something which I definitely did not plan on doing.

Pessimistic outlook

I am quite the flawed character. Despite viewing the holidays as like a safe haven from school, with how fast time feels like it's passing, the end of the break is always on my mind. I'm always thinking along the lines of, "how are there only 2 weeks left?". This kinda means that I'm always ever-so slightly depressed during the holidays, because I always have that nagging thought that the break isn't permanent and that every day that passes is another day closer to the return to school.

Anyways, this time with the presence of others, hopefully I can shift this negative mindset into something more positive. To be fair, as some may know my overall mindset is overwhelmingly realistic/saying the harsh truth. Even though it may be useful in some cases, there are many other times where it certainly doesn't hurt to be more positive/optimistic about life.

My friend told me to fake it till you make it, so I'm gonna attempt to be more grateful for this rest and be happy that I can relax for two weeks.

Plans for next week

1. Sleep (or don't sleep and stay up talking, either works)
2. Support others (I am clearly very good at this)
3. Panic because the holidays are nearly over (I am delusional)

DM me 'marshmallow' if you see this.