Kind reminders for students
Itās okay to take breaks and rest.
Summer holidays are holidays. They should be used as such, as moments of rest, to get a good start in the new school year. It doesnāt matter if all the time you have available is not spent reading your textbooks or learning new skills. Just enjoy the sunlight, the warmth, the endless summer evenings. Take time for yourself.
Itās okay to be tired or feel low from time to time.
It is normal to feel overwhelmed by studying. Itās normal to feel tired, to lack motivation, to forget, sometimes, why you set out on a journey. You will inevitably go through empty periods during your schooling; and you will experience periods of peace and satisfaction - it is a cycle that everyone goes through, more or less visibly. If you feel anxious, stressed, sad, do your best to hold on. Talk to someone you trust, donāt be afraid to express your doubts or fears. Communicating and sharing helps to relieve the weight of your fears, to calm you down, to reach a period of calm more quickly.
You are your own best friend.
Get to know yourself. Appreciate your strengths, recognize your weaknesses - do your best to take advantage of both. When you know yourself well, you also learn to respect your own limits, to manage your efforts, and to love yourself.Ā Never forget that, no matter what happens, you will always be able to rely on yourself and your strengths. Discover your qualities, appreciate them. Trust the compliments of others and the love they give you. If someone decides to love and support you, it is because you deserve it: trust the intelligence of people and their ability to make decisions for themselves.
Itās okay to have limits.
Donāt set yourself too busy a schedule, or too many different tasks. You have the right to have limits and to demand that they be respected: you are not forced to engage in something that is beyond your abilities. Be as reasonable and gentle as possible with yourself: keep in mind that you are always doing your best, and that if you cannot do everything, it is not out of ill will, but simply because it is not yet the right time, the right occasion to seize certain opportunities. Itās okay to take your time, itās okay not to be ready to engage in something if that something seems to be too much for you, even if people expect you to do it.
You are not alone / others are not your ennemies.
The others are no threat to you. No one is working to take your place, everyone is working to create their own place in the world. That is why it is beneficial to work with others and accept their help when you need it. Especially since it is in work, and therefore in times of difficulty and adversity, that you will develop strong and solid bonds with others. This is also why comparison is not useful: your academic studies are not a competition per se, but a path that you travel with your peers. Admiration, on the other hand, will take you further: try to understand what you admire in people, to take them as an example. Let yourself be admired by others because, whoever you are, whatever you do, someone will admire one of your qualities or your efforts. Trust me on that.
You are the source of your own success.
You deserve to be congratulated. You deserve to be recognized and rewarded for your efforts. You are responsible for the fruits of your labour. Of course, everyone relies on friends, on family, on teachers, to advance and progress: others have contributed to success.It is normal, and even healthy, to be aware and grateful for the participation of those around you in your progress. But you are the central, crucial element, without which you would not have achieved your goal. You owe your success only to yourself in the end. You deserve to be proud of yourself. You deserve to be kind to yourself, to treat yourself, to reward yourself for the efforts you make. You do your best.Ā And being proud of yourself doesnāt make you self-centred or narcissistic: thatās perfectly normal and justified.
