By: Ashley Asuncion, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences Well-being Leader

It is the time of year where the days get shorter, and the nights get longer. It is when the weather gets colder, and people prepare for the last few months of the year.  For most people, it is cheers to the jolly season of the end of the year. But for college students, it is when the Fall semester gets more challenging. Classes pick up speed along with extracurricular activities, social life, work, and everything else that comes with life as a college student.

Some of you may start experiencing a lack of energy, motivation, or difficulty focusing on school. These are common symptoms of seasonal changes on psychological feelings like mood and behavior. According to Penn State, in “Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and Winter Blues”, many individuals suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that causes feelings of distress in all aspects of physical and emotional well-being. This is due to increased production of melatonin that affects the biological clock in the brain that controls energy. Symptoms of SAD can include (PennState, n.d.):

• Depression
• Fatigue/loss of energy
• Overeating
• Lack of sex drive
• Anxiety/irritability
• Difficulty concentrating/processing information
• Craving sugary/starchy food

Unfortunately, first-year college students are most at risk for these symptoms due to being the first time going through a big adjustment like attending college. The severity in which these symptoms occur depends on coping mechanisms, self-discipline, schedule and physical demands. Therefore, let me help tell you some ways to combat those potentially Winter Blues!

1. Adjust your environment: Surround yourself with more light, plants, brighter colors, and decorations to make the environment comfortable.

2. Maintain warmth, whether drinking a warm drink or bundling up.

3. Exercise! Exercising is most efficient if working out in a manner that is enjoyable to help you maintain the habit.

• There are numerous programs on campus to participate in: workout classes, active clubs, tournaments/competitions, facilitates, trainer programs, etc. Learn more on the UML Campus Recreation website.  

4. Try a healthier diet, eating smaller amounts more frequently

• Learn more about dining options on campus using the UML Dining Website, as well as explore the amazing food options around the city of Lowell. Learn new techniques to manage stress: Talk to others and do some research on healthy ways to relieve stress.

5. Ask for help! From a friend, faculty member, online or in-person. UML has numerous resources that can assist to find what best works for you.

• Working with Well-being Leaders would be a great start to find help!

I hope these tips can help you combat the Winter Blues. Feel free to reach out to the Office of Student Life and Well-being if you need any help or want to learn more of what is available to you.

https://behrend.psu.edu/student-life/student-services/personal counseling/student-resources/seasonal-affective-disorder

by: Casey Tiernan, Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences Well-being Leader

Self-care is the process of taking care of oneself with behaviors that promote health. In this post, I am going to give you four ways you can implement self-care into your daily life.

The first way to improve your health is to unplug. How you start and end your day can make a big difference in your stress levels. When I first wake up, I make sure not to check my phone.

The brain needs time to wake up before responding to texts, emails, etc. It also affects the brain’s ability to prioritize tasks. Checking your phone when you wake up disrupts the chances of starting your day with a calm mind. This is very important on school or workdays because your brain will be working hard all day.

The next way to implement self-care is to try and get outside. It is always good to connect to nature whether you find a spot to sit, or exercise at, or even a small walk. Some ideas include a park, garden, or a field. Natural environments can help reduce stress in your daily life. It doesn’t have to be an everyday thing, but just spending a few minutes with nature every week can go a long way.

Another way to provide self-care would be doing something you love. This can include watching your favorite movie, reading a book, taking a bath, etc. It is important to nurture our bodies such as a massage, bath, or whatever appeals to you. When I feel myself getting burned out and stressed beyond belief, I like to take a bath and bring a book to disconnect from my phone and take time for myself. It is my favorite part of my daily night routine.

One last self-care activity you can implement is support from others. Having the support of a friend, spouse, professor, etc., can be valuable nourishment in reducing stress. It is important that we can talk to our support people to express our feelings and feel understood. When I feel overwhelmed with life, I love being able to talk about how I am feeling to my boyfriend, and it just helps so much having someone listen and support you. The best thing about self-care is todo what works for you.

https://www.timesnownews.com/health/article/what-happens-to-your-body-when-you-look-at-your-phone-first-thing-in-the-morning/512627

https://www.progressivelifestylesinc.org/post/self-care-activity-ideas-for-caregivers-and-family-membersgclid=CjwKCAjwqJSaBhBUEiwAg5W9pwehvUX3OTLVTBfleSo82RvIK7dyku7Q9XXi14E8LdpcerDboWB7-xoCuOEQAvD_BwE

https://www.taps.org/articles/17-3/selfcare/?gclid=CjwKCAjwqJSaBhBUEiwAg5W9pwxunhE8zB

by: Haiya Patel, Kennedy College of Sciences Well-being Leader

How many of you were excited about starting college but also, anxious and stressed about the changes? Mostly everyone! When you first start college, it is easy to get distracted, as college students have various new factors to explore such as: independence and freedom, academics, career, making new connections and being able to get socially involved, extra curriculars and campus life in a new location. As a college student, it is easy to get distracted and overwhelmed when multiple factors are on your radar. However, some solutions can be to make a schedule and set realistic goals, and balance the activities for each week based on priorities.

As the year begins, it can be easy to get ambitious and make unrealistic or vague goals at times, without any solid plan. Often the major outcome difference between realistic and unrealistic goals is disappointment, which leads to the thoughts of failure when you’re not successful in achieving the goal. Rather than having big goals, breaking down your goals into mini goals with timelines makes the much more achievable. Often, we as students will write big goals in our to-do lists and then feel like we did not achieve any part of the goal if we cannot cross it off. However, when the goals are broken down, and we can check off the mini goals more often, we will feel relieved and can also observe the progress that we have achieved so far.

One major aspect of success is balance. It can be easy to get caught up focusing on only one aspect of your life if you go in hyper-focus mode with the goal, but it is crucial to maintain the other aspects of your life as well. To create a balance, you can separate your goals into categories: academic/ career and social/ personal which gives you a sense of balance with social interactions as well as career.

One method to having balance is to have a schedule. For example: if you know you have an important personal event coming up next week, make sure you factor some extra hours into the alternate weeks to keep up your academics. Perusing further with the goals, having too many ongoing activities and experiences can cause burnout. Rather than having multiple activities, prioritize the activities and have depth in your extracurriculars with the few activities you choose. Reflecting on my personal experiences, I became too ambitious and joined many more extracurriculars than I could balance. Having felt a sense of commitment to the extracurriculars, (similar to performing chores), I felt I had to do it. I would be disappointed in myself when I could not attend the events or meetings because I was double booked. Eventually, I had to take a step back and pick few activities. I picked one extracurricular that correlates with my cultural background as I want to stay connected to my culture, one activity that aligns with my career goal, and one volunteering activity that helps me give back to the community. I genuinely resonated with my goals by participating in these limited activities, which allowed me to have a depth of connection with my goals, as well as truly able to invest my energy and time.

Starting a new chapter can be overwhelming with a variety of emotions rushing through, and it is easy to be distracted. However, having an end goal which is broken down into multiple sub goals can prevent you from getting distracted. Additionally having a schedule for your priorities will allow you to maintain a sense of balance in your life.

by: Medi Woldemichael, Manning School of Business Well-being Leader,

What is “Motivation”? It is the general desire or willingness of someone to do something. Take a moment and ask yourself, “Am I always motivated?” or “When do I lack motivation?” Motivation is a powerful, yet delicate feeling that is good at playing games with us. It will sometimes appear as an energetic and enthusiastic friend. Other times, you’ll catch yourself in a pit of laziness that echoes procrastination. When something around us motivates us to make a change in the early stages, we are encouraged to take on the task. However, at some point, that motivation may fade.

I used to think that motivation was the most crucial factor in accomplishing my goals and achieving success in different areas of my life, and many of you might still feel like that. However, from experience, I know discipline is essential for achieving goals, not just motivation. When we set goals for our lives, we might not always be able to rely on that motivation to stimulate our effort consistently for an extended time; that’s where self-discipline comes in. Self-discipline will help us in deciding to resist daily temptations that may stop us from progressing toward our goals. In a world where motivating advice and resources are readily available, it becomes evident [MHM1] [WS2] [MHM3] that motivation alone is insufficient to result in achievement and achieve goals, or else everyone would be achieving their goals. That’s why we must choose Discipline on top of Motivation.

Motivation is the starting point. It excites emotions, ideas, inspiration, and excitement, which are wonderful and important! Yet some people stop there. We stop ourselves when we think, “I just need to get motivated,” but it requires more. To be successful in any area of our lives, we must move from motivating feelings to disciplined acts.

To the person who wants to be fit – be disciplined to continue that weekly routine of exercise and quality diet choices.

To the person who wants to start that business – be disciplined to do the research, planning, and journey step by step.

To the person who wants to be in a better financial position – be disciplined to make wiser decisions by spending less, investing, and saving more.

To the person who wants to step into their desired career – be disciplined to do the studying, gaining experience, and hard yards required to get there.

To the person writing that book – be disciplined to write daily and stick to your word-count goals.

Maintaining discipline through everyday routines and habits may appear tedious, yet you grow one step forward each day. You’ll be surprised at how quickly discipline spreads to other aspects of your life after you apply it to just one!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/discipline-take-you-places-where-motivation-cant-hamza-khan/

by: Alejandra MalagaWalters, Francis College of Engineering Well-being Leader

Have you ever felt less than someone or insecure because you are not living up to the accomplishments of your classmates? We are constantly comparing ourselves with the people that surround us, just as our siblings, friends, or high school classmates, but why? Why do we compare ourselves to others? According to psychologists, comparisons are a natural human tendency. In fact, people do it all the time. However, comparisons can also be a double-edged sword. They can be a powerful motivator, but sometimes they can be a strong deterrent from doing something you want, and that’s when they become not good for our mental health. Here are a few tips to change your perspective.

If you think about the people whom you consider to be “better” than you in some way, you can often fall into this trap. You may look at the person and think, “I’ll never be able to do that”, or “I’ll never be as good at that as that person”. The strategy is to change those thoughts. Instead of thinking about “what you can’t do”, think about “what you can do to achieve that”. This doesn’t mean you have to do what others do because that would be unauthentic to you, and what if you don’t like what they are doing? You should focus instead on things you like, enjoy, and are good at. Use what people did to achieve their goals as a motivation to start doing what you love. Then, find people that love that too. You will learn from them and be inspired by them.

Comparisons are normal in human beings and can be good motivators to increase personal achievements. It can also be helpful to challenge yourself to do what you have always wanted to do or be. However, if we start comparing ourselves too much it can lead us to pain. Be aware that everyone has completely different life experiences and goals. Don’t be too hard on yourself!

References

by: Fahad Alden, College of Fine, Arts, Humanities, & Social Sciences Well-being Leader

Many people believe that optimism is something inherited, that as little kids, they were always cheerful and bubbly and go-getters. For me, becoming an optimist was something I had to develop through trial and error. 

At 8 years old, I would groan and complain about everything from school to going to the playground. To some extent, there was a reason  I was so miserable at that age. As a Middle Eastern boy, my heritage and culture made me an easy target. Things escalated as I got older when a group of kids taunted me for years with racial slurs. The fact that I also was horrible at sports made it harder for me to make friends with other boys my age. I was also pulled out of classes to be in special education classes, which made me an even easier target.

While these factors help to explain why I was a bitter and miserable person, they do not excuse it. Yes, I dealt with hardships, but I allowed my flaws and weaknesses to define who I was. No one wanted to be around me, because all I would do is complain. I also grew envious of kids who were more athletic or more intelligent than me, thinking that the universe dealt them better cards. 

This pathology is something no one should subscribe to. When I fixated on everything that was wrong with my life, I neglected the great things I had: loving parents, living in a safe neighborhood, and having food on my plate. 

I left this toxic mindset once I  watched a video about spirals. A spiral is when  you go into school thinking of the worst-case scenario, like before the first day of school when you think about how you will go to your classes, no one will look like you, and you will eat lunch alone.  Positive spirals are about flipping that script. An example would be “I am going to go to school and make many friends.” Another example is, “I am going to kill it this year in physics, and my parents will be proud of me.” At the beginning, this may feel inauthentic or unnatural. Andjust like learning to ride your bike, you may fall a couple of times, but it is important to get back up and keep trying. 

So how might one go about changing their mindset? The first suggestion is to start listening to empowering music, such as the work of artists like Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, and Dababy. Their music highlights being assertive, making money, and loving yourself. When Megan raps about how she is the most fly in the room, channel that about yourself. When Nicki Minaj talks about how her lyric game is on point, and she’s the best in her game,envision yourself as the best at what you do. I began to carry myself differently when I stepped away from sad songs and switched to confident and upbeat songs.

Second, expand your reading horizons. When you’re reading a self-help book, it is like engaging in a conversation. You are hearing a story and an experience with some sprinkles of advice on top. Reading about world leaders’ or spiritual advisors’ advice will help you on your journey. Reading books from Gandhi or Oprah will make you feel like you are meeting them in real life. You will hear about their advice, their triumphs, and their failures, reminding you that life is not a linear path to success. 

Third, keep a journal so you can better track and monitor your emotions. You can also list things you are grateful for. Start small, such as writing that you are thankful for having a bed, listing one friend you cherish, and being able to have a job. While those may seem like simple things, when you realize how much privilege you have (which I learned when I volunteered at a homeless shelter), you realize how big those can actually be. 

Finally, I also recommend meditation. Go to a quiet area, preferably outside on the beach or at a park, and close your eyes. Reflect on the positive things in your life and on things you could be doing better. For example, maybe youthink about how you are lucky to have a safe and calm place to decompress or how fortunate you are to have the opportunity to continue your education, Feel all your emotions, whether they are positive or negative  Make time for yourself to feel these emotions instead of distracting yourself through work, relationships, or partying. 

Change is something, my 8 year old self would never think was possible. I went from being bullied to library trustee in my town. Even though I have made great strides I am still a work in progress.  So come on, this article can be the key that unlocks your potential.