{"id":151,"date":"2019-02-21T08:34:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-21T13:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emily\/?p=151"},"modified":"2019-02-21T08:34:09","modified_gmt":"2019-02-21T13:34:09","slug":"spring-semester-not","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/2019\/02\/spring-semester-not\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Semester (Not!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring Semester (Not!) <\/span><\/p>\n

So even though the spring semester is called the \u201cspring semester\u201d, it really should be called the \u201cWINTER semester\u201d. This term has consisted of more snow than I have ever seen in my entire life…which is not saying much because I\u2019ve only experienced snow three times before coming to Iowa City\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Snowy view from one of the Lounges in Catlett Residence Hall!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What with the cold weather, dreary skies and seemingly-endless snow, it\u2019s not surprising if you feel homesick, unmotivated, cold and just wanting to hibernate until the <\/span>real<\/span><\/i> spring comes. I know that I sometimes do! But the important thing to remember: \u201cHappiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.\u201d (Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Book 3 of my absolute favourite series of all time\u2026.) Huge Harry Potter fan, woot, woot!!!<\/span><\/p>\n

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My first attempt at a Bookstagram-style Harry Potter photo!!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Anyway, here are my top tips for staying motivated: <\/span><\/p>\n

1. Enjoy the sun when you can. I know that this isn\u2019t easy, especially if you\u2019re like me and have five classes a day, a rehearsal or work every night, meetings or performances or organizations on the weekends\u2026. I could continue with this list until <\/span>next<\/span><\/i> winter (haha, joking) but the key point is to appreciate the sun and the warmth in those rare snippets that there isn\u2019t any snow falling and the sky is not dark.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Find a good group of friends. Friends are basically my family when I\u2019m here at the University of Iowa; I suspect it\u2019s the same for everyone since hardly anyone stays with their family, although they may have the opportunity to go home on weekends. At any rate, good friends can be great motivators, emotionally, physically, mentally and even productivity! (Productivity in terms of studying because we\u2019re still at university\u2026.)<\/p>\n

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Happy Valentine’s Day from Major Ballet 1!!!\u00a0❤️<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Skype (or Facetime) your family back home! As an international student, I don\u2019t get to see my family until summer comes around. But I know that my family is always here for me, even if we don\u2019t have a lot of time to chat every day. I WhatsApp them every day and try to Skype at the weekends as much as possible. A simple message to or from your family can make you feel so much happier, I promise!<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Join a new organization, club or activity. So if you\u2019re already as busy as I am, it might not be wise to add another <\/i>activity to your schedule, but I recommend adding something you really love and\/or something new that you are really keen to try. If you want to do something, you\u2019ll get out and do it, even if you\u2019re feeling really lethargic and not in the working mood. Plus, meeting new people is always a fun bonus!<\/p>\n

5. Don\u2019t fall sick. Okay, okay, I know that one is so much easier said than done. So many of my friends have fallen ill over the last six weeks, myself included. But eat healthily, take vitamins, try to sleep as much as possible, get your homework done…and you\u2019ll be as safe as you can get from winter bugs\u2026.<\/p>\n

6. Take a break. From personal experience, even the shortest break can do wonders for your motivation. Five minutes to half a day; that period of relaxing your mind and body for the briefest of times can do wonders for your mental psyche.<\/p>\n

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CHILLAXING!!!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

7. Give yourself a massage. Okay, that one might sound weird, but I promise, it\u2019s not as strange as it sounds. In my Major Modern 1 class with Professor Jess Anthony, we had a massage day once this semester. We partnered up and just massaged all the muscle pains in our friend\u2019s body. Even if you\u2019re not extremely physically active, a massage can feel incredibly good. Massages are great for relieving tension, which you might not even realize you have in your body until it\u2019s going, going, gone!<\/p>\n

8. Take a hot shower. I recognize that not everyone enjoys showers, but we don\u2019t have bathtubs here in the residence halls. So bath bombs are out of the question…but don\u2019t worry! Hot showers can be fabulous too. Don\u2019t forget to sing in it\u2026<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all the advice that I can come up with at the moment. Keep your chins up, smile and don\u2019t forget that there\u2019s \u201cNowhere to Go, But Up!\u201d (Mary Poppins Returns!!!)<\/span><\/p>\n

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I didn’t have a photo with an umbrella, but seeing as the ending scene had TONS of balloons and them flying, a reindeer balloon works too…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Go Emily Blunt!!! <\/span>Hey, she shares my name\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, until next time! <\/span><\/p>\n

Emily (not Blunt) <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spring Semester (Not!) So even though the spring semester is called the \u201cspring semester\u201d, it really should be called the \u201cWINTER semester\u201d. This term has consisted of more snow than I have ever seen in my entire life…which is not saying much because I\u2019ve only experienced snow three times before coming to Iowa City\u2026. What … Continue reading Spring Semester (Not!)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":161,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151\/revisions\/161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.admissions.uiowa.edu\/emilyg\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}