Top 10 Ways to See the Silence in the Surround

Following waking up, getting ready in some way or another occurs. Sometimes it’s difficult to get ready in the morning, as you’re forced to remember the heavy weight of tasks ahead of you for the school day. Instead of thinking of these things so prematurely, a way to ground yourself is to focus on exactly what you need to do in the moment, one at a time. Don’t get me wrong, having assignments due in sometimes a few minutes is pressing. A way to combat this is designating time to thinking ahead, so you can truly be an active participant of every moment. As you get ready in the morning, focus on just getting ready. Your mind will familiarize itself with former feelings of business, but try to just focus on getting ready.

So you’ve woken up, gotten ready and are probably on your way to your first class. Regardless of whether it’s your favorite or not, act like it’s the most exciting thing in the world. Sometimes changing your attitude really is the key to changing your surroundings; if you think about your first class as this once in a lifetime experience, beautiful academic results will follow.

After our first class, some sort of meeting is typically required. Although sometimes meetings feel like they could have just been an email, appreciate the slowly fleeting moments of the whole school being together. People often wait until it’s too late to familiarize themselves with a community again. Whether it be assembly, chapel, advisory meetings, or simply just the meeting period, enjoy being around this specific phase of the community whenever you can.

The adherent that is the next class passes, and depending on the day, another one will pass. Our schedule can definitely feel repetitive, and sometimes difficult to manage, along with so many other tasks commonly presented to us. The five minute apertures between these classes may not seem like much, but when you think about five minutes being 300 whole seconds, not a single one should be wasted.

Now for many students’ favorite time of the school day: lunch. Even though it can be such a great time, the condensed space in Yardley can make you unappreciative. Thoughts about the line’s length, or even the menu not being your favorite, can set up a joyless meal for yourself. Compared to many parts of a typical day set up by Chatham Hall, lunch is freeing. There’s only the obligation to hold the space and to eat a meal. For the next time lunch seems overbearing or unenjoyable, try to remember the privilege in sitting down with others and enjoying a meal.

Once again, classes follow, and there will always be a period of time to do what you choose at least twice a week. Making time for yourself is difficult, even when you don’t consider the time spent getting extra help with your classes, planning, doing homework or other extracurricular activities. A great way to make time for yourself is simply scheduling it. There will oftentimes be times where you never get things done because you have no idea where to start. This way, you’ll at least have a good place to start if things seem a bit too unresolved to know where to begin.

The day is not yet over, and after a usually grueling academic day, you’re met with the hurdle that is sports time. While it varies from student to student, sports time is always a time when you’re put to the test, whether it be physically, mentally or both. There are no ways to make the work continuously easy; sometimes the injuries you receive or the comments you hear make it seem like it was never worth it. The secret hidden behind all of this is the ability to show up. While it may not always be on time or in your best interest, you showed up, and when the season is over, you’ll thank yourself for showing up.

The conclusion of sports meetings helps us meet dinner time, which is then followed by study hall on a typical weekday. If we’re lucky and it happens to be Friday, then whatever energizes you would typically follow. On a day where expectations might not be met, study hall relentlessly ensues. Depending on the type of student and person you are, study hall may be a time of knocking assignments out easily, or a time where the words jumble together and nothing really makes sense. Certain days are just rough, and two hours of working can definitely be a lot. A way to focus yourself and allow for rest time is utilizing breaks. Setting a timer for yourself to ensure that you take a rest, whether it be from screens or just working, is essential to keep the longevity of working steady.

Finally, you’re done with everything. The school day is essentially wrapped up, and all that’s next is getting ready for bed. If only it was that simple, as assignments sometimes carry on, and you have to make sure you check in. Even with these occurrences, getting ready for bed sometimes ends up being the action of falling into your mattress and waiting for the next morning’s alarm to sound. In order to feel like you can do the first thing on this list, set up an actual night routine for yourself. It can sound kind of difficult if you’re juggling so many tasks in your head when you should be letting it rest. Even if it’s just adding one more favor to yourself in your routine, try it. It may not seem like it’ll make much of a difference, but the benefits of unexpectedness can be vast.