How to Stay Motivated in the Final Weeks of School

If college were easy, more people would be attending—and graduating. And while college can be challenging, there are definitely times when things are more difficult than usual. The end of the semester, for example—and especially the end of the spring semester—can sometimes feel harder to get through than the rest of the year combined. Youre low on energy, time, and resources, and its more challenging than usual to recharge yourself. So just how can you stay motivated at the end of the semester? Try Changing Your Routine How long has it been since you mixed up your schedule? As in...really mixed it up? You might be in a bit of a funk because youre just going through the motions: go to bed late, wake up tired, go to class, procrastinate. If you need to snap yourself out of it, try reworking your routine, if even just for a day or two. Go to bed early. Get enough sleep. Eat a healthy breakfast. Eat a healthy lunch. Do your homework in the morning so you can hang out, without guilt, all afternoon and evening. Go off campus to study. Mix things up so that your brain can engage and recharge in a new context. Add Some Exercise When youre low on energy, adding exercise to your routine sounds positively dreadful. Making the time for physical activity, however, can help relieve your stress, increase your energy, and clear things up mentally. Go for a nice long run outside, if you can, or join an exercise class that youve never been to. Play a pick-up game with friends or just zone out on the rowing machine. No matter what you do, promise yourself youll do it for at least 30 minutes. Chance are youll be amazed at how much better you feel. Schedule in Some Downtime Even if you know youll be hanging out with people throughout the week, it can be hard to really let yourself relax if youre worried about everything else you have to do. Consequently, make an official night out, dinner out, coffee date, or something similar with friends. Put it on your calendar. And then let yourself really relax and rejuvenate while youre out. Get off Campus and Forget Youre a Student for a Little While Everything you do probably revolve around your college life—which, while understandable, can also be wearisome. Leave your backpack behind and head to a museum, a musical performance, or even a community event. Forget that youre a student and just let yourself enjoy the moment. Your college responsibilities will wait for you. Remind Yourself of Your Long-term Goals Studying can be exhausting when you think of all you have to read and learn and memorize and write within the last few weeks of the term. However, thinking about your long-term goals—both professionally and personally—can be incredibly motivating. Visualize or even write down what you want your life to be like in 5, 10, and even 20 years. And then use those goals to help you plow through your to-do list. Make Attainable Short-term Goals While looking at your long-term goals can be motivating, focusing on your short-term goals can also be incredibly helpful. Make simple, very-short-term (if not downright immediate) goals that you can reach with a little extra effort. What is the one big thing youd like to get done by the end of the day today? By the end of the day tomorrow? By the end of the week? You dont have to list everything; just list one or two tangible things that you can aim for and reasonably expect to accomplish. Spend an afternoon imagining the details of your life after college. Focus on as many details as possible. Where will you live? What will your house or apartment look like? How will it be decorated? What kinds of things will you have hanging on the walls? What kind of dishes will you have? What kinds of people will you have over? What will your work life be like? What will you wear? What will you eat for lunch? How will you commute? What kinds of situations will make you laugh and feel joyful? Who will be part of your social circle? What will you do to have fun and relax? Spend a good hour or two imagining the details of what your life will be like. And then refocus and recharge yourself so you can finish your semester and make progress toward creating that life. Do something creative. Sometimes, the demands of college mean you end up spending your entire day doing things you have to do. When was the last time you did something you want to do? Allocate an hour or two to do something creative -- not for a grade, not for an assignment, but because you simply need to let your brain do something else. Do something new and silly. Are you tired of having all of the items on your to-do list be serious and productive? Add something that adds some brevity and good, old-fashioned silliness. Take a cooking class, go fly a kite, read a trashy magazine, finger paint, get in a water gun fight with friends, or run through some sprinklers. It doesnt matter what you do as long as you let yourself be goofy and enjoy it for what it is: ridiculous. Find a new place to study. Even if youre lacking motivation, you still have certain things to do -- like studying. If you cant change your to-do list, change where you get things done. Find a new place to study on campus so that you at least feel like youre mixing things up instead of repeating the same routine over and over and over again. Set up a reward system for yourself. It doesnt have to be fancy or expensive to be motivating. Pick two things on your to-do list and set an easy reward, like that candy bar in the vending machine youre always daydreaming about. When you finish those two tasks, treat yourself! Similarly, add in other short-term rewards, like a snack, nice cup of coffee, power nap, or other small treasure. Drop something from your to-do list -- and dont feel bad about it. Do you have a ton to do? Are you tired? Do you just not have the energy to get everything completed? Then instead of focusing on how to motivate yourself to do the impossible, take a hard look at your to-do list. Pick one or two things that are stressing you out and drop them -- without feeling guilty. If things are stressful and your resources are low, then its time to prioritize. What seemed important a month ago may no longer make the cut, so cross off what you can and focus on what you really need to focus on. You just might surprise yourself with how your energy levels replenish and your stress levels decrease.

Evil and Morality Essay - 1266 Words

The existence of God may mean a great deal too many people; however does his existence mean that he can control evil and morality in humans? Human beings are born every second, minute, and hour of the day. Each human being born will hopefully grow up and make something of themselves, to ultimately become contributing members of society. In order to do so, each individual human being may battle what many before him or her may battle each day, and that is evil and morality and possibly the existence of a God that could control one or the other; or possibly both. According to dictionary.com, God is referred to as the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe (2012). Therefore if God is the creator of the universe, then†¦show more content†¦Morals is defined as of or relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior (merriam-webster.com, 2012). It may be concluded that the terms evil and moral are linked because they each relate to a good or bad component in human beings. Human beings each are equipped to have the components of good or bad as it relates to each definition in terms of behavior qualities. Swinburne divides evil into two groups which are as follows: (a) moral evils; and (b) natural evils (qtd. in Cahn 232). To have morals may seem to imply that the human being would have to have a conscious. Be aware of what is going on in their surroundings, and the ability to reply or to act on certain impulses that can be viewed as good or bad within their surroundings. Moral evils includes all evil caused deliberately by humans doing what they ought not to do (or allowed to occur by humans negligently failing to do what they ought to do) and also the evil constituted by such deliberate actions or negligent failure. (qtd. in Cahn 232). If moral evils include actions that are committed deliberately, then as stated by Cahn this may just be a test whereas humans encounter situations where they may be prone to commit murder, st eal, or possibly abuse children or other adults. It is a test by God to see if humans have what it takes to make a moralShow MoreRelatedTechnology and Morality in Shelleys Frankenstein - Is Knowledge Always Evil?952 Words   |  4 PagesFrankenstein: Is Knowledge Always Evil? nbsp; As of this writing, I have decided to regard the local TV channels The more you know... commercials as being evil. I do not understand how anyone could regard knowledge as anything but evil. The more you know... the more your mind feels the need to explorer for more knowledge and the more evil it will encounter. The more you search, the more ignorant you realize you are and the more open to pain you become. 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Justice and Vengeance in The Oresteia Free Essays

In this paper, I suggest that the themes of justice and vengeance are reflected in a progressive movement throughout the trilogy. The never-ending cycle of revenge and vengeance was between not only mortals like Clytaemnestra and Orestes but also between gods for example Apollo and the Furies. The theme of justice and vengeance are important because the play reflects a movement from a time of savagery and revenge and a movement towards civilization and justice. We will write a custom essay sample on Justice and Vengeance in The Oresteia or any similar topic only for you Order Now B. Structure of Paper In this paper, I will examine how the themes of justice and vengeance are treated in the Oresteia. I will examine the progress of the trilogy from the savage cycle of bloodshed to a more civilized and justice oriented society. First I will take a look at the foreshadowing of doom in Agamemnon by the Chorus. Then, I will analyze how the cycle of bloodshed continues in the Libation Bearers. And lastly the change from cyclic bloodshed to peace and justice will be discussed through the last play the Furies. C. Body of Paper In the first play Agamemnon, we get the first glimpse of the oncoming fate in the house of Atreus. The sacrificial death of Iphigenia mentioned in Agamemnon 875 was the first spark that caused this cycle of bloodshed to begin and led to the death of the king. The following passage is the words of the chorus following the unfortunate murder of Agamemnon. â€Å"I dread the drumbeat thunder the heavy rains of blood will crush the house the first light rains are over- Justice brings new acts of agony, yes, on new grindstones Fate is grinding sharp the sword of Justice.† Agamemnon 1561-1565 This passage foreshadows not only the coming doom in the house of Atreus but also the intervention of the gods. The line â€Å"the first light rains are over-Justice brings new acts of agony† reflects that blood will no longer drizzle but pour from this house until justice is served. It is being implied that Agamemnon was only the first casualty and many are to come which we later in the Libation Bearers realize is no one other than Clytaemestra and Aegisthus. The sharp grinding of the sword of justice by  fate reflects the intervention of the gods who will help bring justice to those murdered. Apollo being the divine oracle that helps Orestes avenge his father’s death and the Furies seeking vengeance on maternal murder. This passage provides the best example of the basic theme of the Oresteia, seeking justice through vengeance. The idea of eye for an eye continues to be reflected through the next play the Libation Bearers. This passage also like the previous one can be considered to foreshadow the death of Clytaemestra and Aegisthus. â€Å"And the blood that Mother Earth consumes clots hard, it won’t seep through it breeds revenge and frenzy goes through the guilty, seething like infection, swarming through the brain.† Libation Bearers 66-69 This quote shows that bloodshed is appeased by only more bloodshed. The fact that blood clots hard rather than seeps through signifies that death is something that is not easily accepted in human nature it only induces more revenge. The seething like infection also indicates that this feeling of vengeance will only spread like wildfire until the urge is satisfied. Orestes, with the support of Apollo, is the one reflecting this urge of vengeance while his guilty mother and her lover are the ones to lose their blood next. Clytamestra’s death causes the Furies to hunt Orestes and seek justice for her which leads us to the last part of the trilogy. In Eumenides 485, Athena decides that the case between Orestes and the Furies should be judged by a jury of mortal men. The verdict set Orestes free which enraged the Furies but for their appeasement Athena offers a place in Athens for them which they eventually agree to. Thus the following passage helps us understand how the cycle of vengeance was concluded. â€Å"Come and sped beneath the earth by our awesome sacrifices, keep destruction from the borders, bring prosperity home to Athens, triumph sailing in its wake.† The Eumenides 1015-1020 This quote depicts what Aeschylus was advocating at the end of the Furies. This verse spoken by Athena indicates that justice has been served and no longer should cycles of bloodshed and revenge be at the forefront. Rather the people of Athens should focus on bettering their homeland together and live in peace and harmony. The destruction should be put to better use by  conquering foreign lands. The alliance between Athena and the Furies is the triumph being referred to in the end and also indicates that similar achievements should continue to prosper. As we can see the themes of justice and vengeance are at the forefront in the play. The trilogy reflects a progressive movement from revenge to justice. The sacrificial death of Iphigenia was the root cause of conflict between Clytaemestra and Agamemnon and eventually the unceasing cycle of bloodshed. However, the vengeance of Orestes and the Furies led to a final ruling that helped end the cycle. Although the house of Atreus was reduced to almost nothing through all the bloodshed the cycle helped erase the law of blood for blood and in turn peace and harmony were advocated. How to cite Justice and Vengeance in The Oresteia, Papers