It’s been a weird week here at Oberlin, and that may be an understatement. Ever since coming back from fall break, I’ve felt off for more than a few reasons. Oberlin has longer breaks than a lot of schools—many students live out of state and need a day or two for travel, so in both fall and spring semesters we have a full week off about halfway through the semester. After six or so weeks of getting settled into my routines of classes and activities, the week’s break from the routine threw me off. Some sad news hit the campus & community pretty hard this Wednesday, and it’s further disrupted a lot of usual routines. I also haven’t been feeling physically amazing, and looming deadlines in all of my classes are stressing me out. In short, I’m exhausted and struggling to get used to being back, and while this week may be unusually difficult, this isn’t the only time I’ve felt similarly off when coming back from a long break.
But all hope is not lost—I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things, and here’s what has helped me so far.
First of all, I’m trying my best to listen to my body, and rest when I need it. It can feel hard to take breaks on such a busy campus, when there’s almost always something interesting happening or some work I could be doing. This week, though, a lot of work hasn’t come easily to me at all, and it’s been difficult to focus. Despite the deadlines in my calendar, I know that my work will be better when I’m rested, so I’ve just been letting myself rest as much as possible. On Wednesday night, I had a “mental health night": I got a late dinner with a friend, then took a long shower and painted my nails while watching a feel-good movie and eating ice cream. After the difficult day, it was nice to take some time for myself to do low-pressure things I enjoy, and I took some time out of my day on Thursday for rest as well.
Although it might run contrary to expectations, fun things that are out of my normal routine have also been helpful, as they’ve helped me reconnect with friends and find the fun in college again. On Thursday night, I went to Get Wilder, the annual Halloween event sponsored by Oberlin’s Program Board, and got pizza from a food truck and watched some amazing dance performances from two of Oberlin’s student dance groups, AndWhat!? and Kinetik. Afterward, one of my friends was holding a showing of “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in a room in Wilder, so I headed there with some friends, caught up with a few people I hadn’t seen since before break, and got in the Halloween spirit. Fitting, considering the next night was the night of one of my favorite Oberlin traditions: Organ Pump. Every year over Halloween weekend (Halloweekend, if you will) the organ majors hold a midnight concert in Finney Chapel. The music is beautiful, but the extra additions (onstage skits, costume contests, and candy thrown out into the audience) make it all the more memorable and fun. Perhaps the best part, though, is the final piece of the concert, where everyone in the audience is invited to get on the Finney stage, lie down, and feel the vibrations of the organ. It’s a tight squeeze, but a really cool experience nonetheless.
So, after both rest and a few fun experiences, I’m readjusting and hoping for some normalcy next week. With a return to routine, it’ll be like I never left at all, and I’m definitely looking forward to that feeling.
