If you couldn’t tell from all of the bonfire snapchats and instagram hammocking posts, last weekend was the annual ENR scholars camping trip to hocking hills. Unfortunately the timing of this trip could not have been worse considering I had an exam the day after we came back. Against my better judgement I decided to go on the trip anyways rather than staying back to study because who cares about passing physics anyway… right? Little did I know, being away from campus without any cell service for an entire weekend was exactly what I needed. There is something about being so unattached from the rest of the world that gave me the clarity that I needed. I was beginning to feel very overwhelmed with course work, social obligations and having a job that I had forgotten how important is is to make time for yourself.

During the trip, I had the chance to meet with my mentor group. We discussed how the semester was going so far in regards to classes, extracurricular activities, scholars, careers and general advice. I enjoyed hearing about what everyone else is involved in and found comfort in knowing that I am not the only one who is struggling with their course load. One of the things we talked about was productive procrastination. This means that when you feel stressed about a big assignment that you should do all of the other smaller tasks in the meantime rather than just blowing the whole thing off. I found this very useful because I feel like sometimes I have so many assignments for different classes that I often do not know where to even start. I sometimes end up wasting the time that I have to do homework in between classes trying to decide which task I should tackle first. Starting with the smaller things helps me make the best use of my time. Who knew that you could procrastinate productively?  Another thing that we talked about was ways to reduce stress. One thing that I realized in this conversation was that it is okay not to be perfect. I have been struggling lately in group assignments because I feel that I am the only group member who cares about getting a good grade whereas everyone else is simply trying to pass the class or get that minimum gpa requirement to get into their intended major. As a result, I end up doing most of the work and even redoing work that other people have done because I feel that it is not sufficient. In the future, instead of stressing myself out, I think I will just do my part the best that I can and accept whatever grade that my group receives. In the real world you can’t just do other people’s work for them, because that doesn’t give them an opportunity to learn and grow. Overall, I returned from the camping trip with a much more positive and relaxed mindset about not just my academic life but everything else too.

Note: Photo was taken post camping trip