journaling

Self Care: A College Student’s Guide

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I scrolled through Instagram one day last week, like I do most days. As I clicked aimlessly through stories while waiting for class to start, I notice a commonality among almost all of them–a motivational phrase, a beautiful picture, or a lunch date, all titled with words about creating a happier today, treating yourself, and the final one in big letters titled SELF CARE.

The message still resonated with me as I put my phone away for class, and I found myself pondering what self care looks like to me. For me, self care has always been a phrase all across social media, but with no good textbook definition. My personal definition of self care means time in which I working on nothing but myself and my mental health. I feel I have done a much better job at self care as a current third-year student than I did in my first year. Now, I am a consistent meditator and I wake up each morning to journal and sit alone with my thoughts for 10 minutes. I avidly use exercise as a stress reliever, using lifting and cardio in tandem to calm my nerves. However, to be completely transparent with you, I was not good at self care my freshman year.

In my first semester, I ran off of Monster Energy, coffee, and Ohio Union quesadillas. I would stay up into the wee hours of the night, wake up early, and slowly grind both my physical and mental health down. This lack of awareness for my own health wasn’t because I enjoyed feeling awful; rather, it was more due to me not knowing about ways to relax and enjoy time. For those of you struggling with self care like I was in my first year at Ohio State, here is my get right guide for all things self care.

STEP 1: Find what makes you happy!

We’re all very different people–for some, a meal with friends is the best thing in the world; others would rather sit in relaxation and watch TV for 30 minutes. Whatever that is for you, you know yourself better than anyone! Find that thing that really allows you to take a deep breath, clear your mind, and truly relax.

STEP 2: If it’s something new to you, create a plan of attack!

Let’s say you really wanna start working out as your form of self care–great! However, part of what may be keeping you from implementing this plan is the fact you wouldn’t even know where to start. My advice is make a plan of attack so that when you get in there you know what you’re doing. Do some research online–find a weight lifting program, watch videos on how to do the exercises–and finally, go in there an kill it! Creating a plan will boost your confidence and allow you to truly relax instead of being nervous about doing the activity.

STEP 3: Consistency!

So, you practiced self care today–that’s great! But that doesn’t mean that you can forget about it for the rest of the semester. Instead, make sure that you take a little time out of each and every day in order to work on you! Remember: consistency is key!

Overall these three quick and easy steps for self care can really make a massive impact. In my experience, I found homework more enjoyable, my friendships more fun, and overall my life in a better state when I learned to take care of myself everyday! For everyone reading as well I just want you to know: you got this! It’s November and the semester is winding down–finish strong and kill it.

 

 

Self-Reflection Through Self-Expression

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You’re about to make it through your first year of college in one piece (knock on wood). That’s a big deal, so give yourself some credit! My freshman year was so opposite of what I envisioned coming out of high school; it was actually one of the most challenging years of my life–socially, academically, psychologically, you name it. Despite the tough times, the real problem was that I–like countless others–tended to push the bad memories off to the side and focus on the good. However, I’ve learned the times I grew the most as a person were the times I was barely holding on. If you look back on the year without rose-colored glasses, you can really discover what worked and what didn’t, helping you to be cognizant of those things the second time through this fall! 

Now, there are many options for self-reflection. The great thing about it is that it’s for yourself, so you can make what you want out of it! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Journaling

Claaaassic.

When people think of self-reflection, journaling is often the first thing that comes to mind. It’s a great way of getting thoughts onto paper and allows a space of unfiltered reflection. If you’re feeling super crazy, you could buy yourself a nice notebook and some sweet pens, too. 

Poetry

I’m a poet and I didn’t even know it, but I think it’s time I show it.

I’ve recently found poetry to be a really cool way of expressing what I’m feeling in an abbreviated form. The extra attention it takes for word choices and having to think through things like rhyme and rhythm (or not!) helps you to think about what you’re feeling and what you’re trying to say.

Music

“Lose yourself in the music, the moment, you own it, you better never let it go…”

Whether it’s putting sound to poetry, playing your favorite tunes on your favorite instrument, or just indulging in a few emotionally engaging songs, music as the universal language is a fantastic way of expressing and experiencing emotion without ever having to open your eyes!

Visual Art

A picture is worth a thousand words.

Whether you sketch, paint, photograph, etc., a visual representation of what you’ve been experiencing throughout your first year is a powerful way to express your feelings. It’s not an art contest; it’s for your own self-expression, so don’t be too critical on yourself if you aren’t the second coming of Michelangelo!

Whether you had the best year ever, or the worst of all time, reflecting back on it while it’s still fresh in your mind is something that can be helpful, rather than bottling it all up. Expressing yourself in some form can help you to know how to build upon your success this year, but just as important, how to take what you’ve been through and grow and learn from your shortcomings. Once you’ve taken the opportunity to look back and discover where you’ve grown–and need to continue to grow–you can look to the future with confidence that you’re a better version of yourself because of it. 

I recently wrote a poem about my first year struggles and how I dealt with it. If you’re interested, you can check it out here!

Getting off the struggle bus

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For the past few months, much of what you’ve heard from Peer Leaders is GET INVOLVED. TIME MANAGEMENT. CAMPUS RESOURCES. To be honest, even Peer Leaders need to take the time to get our lives on campus right, because trust me when I tell you that we’re nowhere NEAR perfect. I’ve had the pleasure of studying architecture during my time here at Ohio State. When you hear about architecture you probably think about 1 of 2 things:

  1. How time intensive it is. “Don’t you, like, live in Knowlton? It’s literally the number one question I get when I mention what I’m majoring in, and with good reason. Having a 4.5 hour studio class three times a week will do that to you. I LOVE what I do though, and I couldn’t be happier with it.
  2. Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. Enough said.

ted

Like many of you, classes take up a good chunk of my time. Bring in work at First Year Experience and my involvement with my church on campus and I’ve got little to no time to really do anything else! When things are going right, having such a busy schedule works out great for me as I’m at my best when I’m really productive. It’s when tough times outside of school and work come up like they have in recent weeks that it feels like the wheels could easily fly off of the proverbial wagon that is my life. There’s a fine line between being busy and chaotic, so when things aren’t going my way, life definitely moves closer to that side of the spectrum, especially without people who can share in your experiences. I’m really fortunate to have such a strong support system, but even if that isn’t there for you I’m here to share a few things that have really helped me to keep on keeping on when times get rough.

Self reflection

I tend to find it much easier to put off problems until they disappear. Recently though, I’ve gained such an appreciation for self-reflection when it comes to dealing with things going on in my life. I found it super helpful just listening to my favorite songs whenever I could, mostly to get my mind off of things, but also to put me in a frame of mind to be able to figure out what was going on in my life. Whether it’s journaling or just getting some alone time, self-reflection is a really great way to be able to not only face these matters head on, but also to begin thinking about ways to resolve or move on from them.

Talk about it!

After taking the time to sort my thoughts, getting the opportunity to talk with someone about what’s going on in my life was the most therapeutic thing that I ended up doing to help me move forward. One of the other Peer Leaders, Caitlin, was kind enough to lend a listening ear for me. Lots of us talk with our friends about things going on in life to hopefully gain some encouragement or insight of what to do, but in all honesty, the most helpful part was just the fact that she was there for me. Find that listening ear; whether it’s your roommate, RA, classmate, or whomever, speaking your mind to someone is so important.

(Some of you may not have anyone that you’re quite comfortable doing that with here on campus, so I’d encourage you to reach out to a Peer Leader, yours or otherwise. We’re all about helping you, and we’d be more than happy to be that listening ear for you! My email is included below, and I’d be more than happy to either be that person for you or connect you with another Peer Leader on staff if you’d like!)

Push through

The most important part about the process of getting through a rough patch is just that, getting through the rough patch. For me, if it wasn’t for the courage to face those issues head on, and the support of those around me, there’s a good possibility that I’d be stuck in the negative frame of mind that I was in, and I would’ve fallen so far behind in school and at work that it would’ve been an uphill battle from there on out. Of course, all of my life’s problems aren’t resolved as of today, but knowing that I’m more than capable of getting through some of the most difficult few weeks that I’ve been through (so far) is something that I’ll be able to take with me for the rest of my life.

Contact Jon at decipeda.1s@osu.edu.