Hi all<3
(Disclaimer: if you have covid-news fatigue and/or are simply sick and tired of hearing about the virus/virus-adjacent topics, I encourage you to stop reading here, and go enjoy your favourite type of self-care [my personal recommendation is to go watch Schitt’s Creek] instead).
Being a university student right now is really hard.
There. I said it!!!
I usually try to avoid “complaining” about this. However, I am trying to remind myself it is okay to “complain” about things that I am struggling with.
So…basically…I have decided to turn what should probably be some sort of diary/journal entry into this blog post you are reading right now, because I imagine lots of other university students are feeling the exact same way lately.
I have been trying my hardest to remind myself of a few things:
“It is okay to acknowledge that life is hard for you right now, even if you know many others have it harder than you.”
“It is okay to reach out to others for support after acknowledging this, even if it feels like you’re “just complaining” (which, of course, you are not).”
“It is SO INCREDIBLY OKAY to have a bad day, a bad week, a bad month, and/or a bad year.”
“It is okay to ask for more help from friends, family, professors, bosses, etc. than you used to ask for.”
“It is okay to straight up “complain”, rant, cry your eyes out, scream, get angry at everything or one specific thing if you have to, etc.”
“It is also okay if the above situations cause you to miss an assignment, fall out of healthy habits and into unhealthy habits, skip the gym, pass on the meeting, etc.”
Basically, however you are actually feeling, is 100% valid.
There are most definitely hundreds more reminders I could have added to the list above. But, I would be 100% lying if I said I am in the type of headspace where creating an exhaustive and coherent list of anything is something my brain/body/soul is up for. The end of the semester has left me completely drained, and doing anything but being open and honest about that truth in this blog post just felt plain wrong.
I am not doing super well; I don’t think very many of us university students are doing very well; I don’t think we need to pretend we are doing okay if we are struggling.
I didn’t want to force a positive spin on this post if I didn’t believe the words I was writing. Plus, I don’t think there needs to be a positive spin on everything. This topic is not “positive”, but that doesn’t mean it is “negative” either. It just IS and that is completely okay.
I hope someone out there who read this might try and remind themselves of the same things I have been needing/trying to lately. I am wishing everyone a restful winter break, full of doing as much of nothing/resting/recharging/relaxing/chilling as you can possibly pack into our recently extended(!!!!!!!) time off.
Screw the stigma <3
-Tristen
The views expressed in this blog are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of the University of Victoria. I monitor posts and comments to ensure all content complies with the University of Victoria Guidelines on Blogging.