Welcome to The Campus Beat! In this brand-new column, peer into the life of George Fox University senior Maddy Farnham, the School District Communications Intern. Maddy will share what she has learned to help her succeed in college.
Dec. 27, 2023
Hello Newberg-Dundee!
My name is Maddy; I am a senior English Major at George Fox University. I work as an intern at the school district and am honestly so excited to write this column, The Campus Beat! I want to share with you all a little bit about my experience as a college student, both the ups, of which there are a lot, and the downs, that come around often as well.
I love everything that comes with a well-rounded experience, from the mountains of homework I experienced as a former STEM major to the minute-to-minute reading schedule I made last semester as an English Major. That said, I also love Winter Break.
To me, the break is a reset button, a time when we all go home to our little corners of the world and let out a breath we have been holding for approximately 16 weeks. I like to use that time to sleep, eat, and set myself up for success going into the next semester.
Coming home during winter break after my first semester at college was fabulous! That year was 2020, the year of COVID-19 and the longest winter break I have ever experienced. Fox sent students home just before Thanksgiving, and in order to have as little contamination as possible, all finals were online (Woot Woot!), done from our dining tables or bedroom floors.
As the semester wrapped up in my high school bedroom, I realized something I had not quite grasped before. I was the most exhausted I had ever been. I had spent the semester pulling all-nighters weekly and getting an average of four hours of sleep per night. My friends and I thought that was normal, and we were convinced that this was what everyone around us was doing. And they were!
Looking back, I see that 2020 taught me about the importance of breaks for students. That’s a lesson I have been passing on. When my peers and I see young students repeatedly pulling all-nighters, we take them to coffee and remind them that their brains work better on a few more hours of sleep and a lot more rest.
It is important to remember that setting ourselves up for success is not the chore it may seem. For me, setting myself up for success looks like a weekly meal plan, ordering my books way ahead of time, a planner filled with my assignments, and scheduling time for different types of rest. My peers and I all have found ways to work restful moments into our schedules.
Some of my friends are at their best when they have days filled to the brim with work and tasks, but they get a good two hours in the evening to unwind with video games and eat a vast amount of pasta with homemade sauce.
Some of my friends are at their best when they alternate between sleep and work, taking multiple naps daily. They can’t do homework in bed or focus without rock music in their head.
Some of my friends are at their best when they can manage to get out of bed and go to class; they do all their homework in bed.
I am at my best when I prioritize good food and find room for being still with my friends.
Rest doesn’t always mean sleeping. I often still find sleep elusive. I never get as much as I would like or when I would like it. But even moren than sleep, I have learned that rest is essential. Setting ourselves up for success means knowing ourselves and ensuring that we can be our best each day.
Some of my favorite types of rest are these: Friend-Rest, finding time to sit with the people who care about you and watch a movie, eat a meal, play a board game, talk about life, or create something together; Food-Rest, scroll for a recipe on Pinterest, walk to the store and buy ingredients, make food, and eat slowly; Quiet-Rest, sit with a recreational book, find a hobby, draw, journal, or make space just to exist.
If there was one piece of advice I wish I had been told before I started college, it is to find your rest and use it as often as possible. Setting yourself up for success does not always mean pushing yourself past the limits and dragging your exhausted feet through your day living on caffeine and Cheetos. In fact, it should never mean that!
I hope this finds you all in a space of rest, somewhere we can all be as we move forward to our bright futures.
Sincerely,
Madelyn Farnham