Finally Finals

December 11, 2012
by Paula

School/Life Balance

Finals week is here and man, can you feel the stress. As students make their way through study guides and coffee canisters, it is important for us all to incorporate a bit of balance in each day and to remain mindful of the reason that we are in school. It always helps me to have an endpoint or something to look forward to.

For the second years, this may be the fact that we will be done with the program this coming May (wow!) or that we have Spring electives to look forward to. For the first years, they have just conquered their first practice immersion (yay!) and are creating bonds with one another which will continue to provide them with support, laughter, and distractions. I know that all of my classmates are eagerly awaiting the four week break that we have from classes which begins at the end of the week.

I have always been a planner, list-maker and extremely talented procrastinator. These characteristics come out full throttle during finals. In order to create some balance for myself, I have focused my energy into study breaks which include exercise, fresh air, packing, and planning for the break. I plan to spend the four weeks recharging for our final semester and catching up on the occupations I neglected through the semester when other tasks took priority. To be sure that I revisit these occupations, I have made some personal goals for myself to tackle over the break: read a book for fun; visit Yosemite; spend a weekend in San Francisco; cook and bake old family recipes; visit the wineries in Livermore; relax with friends and family; see the infamous Christmas lights at Deacon Dave’s (345,200 lights this year!); and go adventuring in Donner with some great friends.

What goals do you hope to accomplish this holiday season?

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