The first month of school is all about change. The slowness and ease of summer vacation crashes and burns, and it’s time to get moving again. Your days seem infinitely longer, the workload is consuming, you leave your house before the sun rises, and return when it sets: welcome back. The first month of school is a shock, a system reset, and with so many changes already, it’s a good time to make intentional ones.

We have to rebuild anyhow, why not improve? Why not start going to the library after school, get a job, join a club, quit if you hate it, finally start your homework before 9 p.m., get to school earlier? Classes aren’t at their peak difficulty right now, exams are still a distant dream (or nightmare), it’s not cold outside yet. Your comfy schedule has already been turned on its head, so roll with the punches, and make it your own.

I get it, it’s weird, a lot of putting yourself out there, overcommitment, the first month is unsteady, foreign. This is my eleventh first month of school, eleven “last days of summer!”s, eleven sleepless nights, eleven first days, and about 11-million icebreaker activities. And I have never really gotten my feet under me that first month. When that ‘I’m doing this for the next nine months of my life feeling’ hits, it is overwhelming, but the reality is that this is the next nine months of your life, so dive in, learn to be uncomfortable, and better yourself. 

They say that the first impression is the most important, but respectfully, that’s not the mindset for me. Any student could tell you there comes a time where everything counts, every grade you put in, every minute of how you spend your time, but that isn’t here yet, so go out, try new things, build new habits, grow. 

Stay mindful,

-Fiona

Stay mindful is a recurring column here at the Hawkeye focused on creating a space for students to analyze their own mindset, and make improvements for how they view high school. Staying mindful is a place to step back, mindfulness is important to taking care of our mental health and growing. Sometimes I just explore an idea, sometimes there’s some advice sprinkled in, take it if you wish, leave it if you don’t, as always, stay mindful