The windows are gorgeous in August, and I'm packing family backpacks for long journeys, but telegrams from the fall are coming more and more: she (and the challenges she always brings) cannot be remembered.
This year I have a very strange status again: teachers in decree + in-patient students. So this entry just had to appear right now. Although not even so. The first yellowing leaves at the base of the lime tree-lined in the old alley, the first portions of cold-crisp air in the morning, the first lingering rains - all this inspires a thirst for knowing the new. The feeling of the first bell is never weathered - it rolls waves every year at the same time, whether we realize it or not.
The following items are solid banality. They are also very subjective and not obliged to work for everyone. But in them - my personal experience and the experience of many people, to whom the training has brought not only a dream profession but also a lot of joy. So I'm sharing.
1. Side-project
It may sound strange, but the first point in, let's just say, happy learning in my understanding is that learning is not. Training is good and necessary. But sometimes it can be difficult or boring, sometimes someone is treated unfairly, sometimes ... well, you will agree, all kinds of things happen with that training.
So it's a good thing to be passionate about wanting to learn something new that you want to share with others. And when there is such a thing (work project, volunteerism, blogging, after all), the educational task of preparing an elevator speech there doesn't seem so meaningless anymore.
Because you have something to say, you want to share it and for that, you are ready to acquire new knowledge and skills.
2. Walking
Yes, walks. Many walks. If you can't walk just like that, you can pick up books - and go to the park to study. Moreover, even in wi-fi parks, it happens quite often, so Google's magic wand will also be at hand. The more walks, the better the sleep and healthier skin color is just what you need for effective training, isn't it?
3. Water
And coffee with tea. And yogurt kefir. And again water. In short, one of the best investments at the beginning of the school year is a handy water bottle or hotplate. It is necessary, healthy and very cozy. Autumn will come with the wind - and you still want to warm your toes for something warm.
One of my fondest memories of winter couples is a wicker cardigan and snood, and my fingers are in wicker mittens holding a steamed cocoa mug (my husband did it in the morning).
4. Clothing
Comfortable and warm - here are two criteria I have always used to identify the clothes that should fit in my wardrobe. Apparently, this year I finally grew up, because the criterion of "beautiful" is also already fit into my closet value system.
(This is where the teacher's voice comes in: dear students, warm clothes are important. Warm socks and cozy scarves are all-needed and much-needed minim).
5. Food
Here everything is clear: the more useful and tasty food - the higher your efficiency.
I remember when I was translating a biography of Steve Jobs, I put myself on a laptop still life with apples. Such is the reminder that apples should be eaten. And as often as possible. After all, like any other food. The one that is useful and delicious.
6. Music
I don't turn it on the tram, because that's when I try to make time for reading. But I often switch on when we have dinner. It is such a wonderful way to dissolve in a family evening and distinguish yourself from the academic world with all its grimaces. So for me, music is not so much a source of inspiration as a means of creating a certain atmosphere. However, it is the least of its features. Therefore - music!
7. Books
And not just educational ones. In fact, the background of everything that happens in or around us has already been spelled out in one form or another. So reading is, in particular, a way to resonate with reality. Understand it more deeply, care for it, feel grateful for it, get inspired, let go of fears. Books create a special atmosphere, enrich life by multiplying it by many.
It's a way to travel while staying in one city and feel connected to your home when away. Perhaps I'm too engaged and biased, so you may not believe me, but reading is a panacea.
8. Office
A good set of offices can inspire and promote productivity. The pen often depends on the handwriting, have you noticed? So, I think it will be superfluous to make sure that the pens do not "glitch" and write well, and your favorite notebooks are filled with important ideas.
9. Go to bed on time
The iron rule is more iron than reading everything before the exam. You can argue, but here I am an ardent champion of healthy sleep. This is from the series "so my mother taught, so it must be." And for this advice (request!), I am especially grateful to my mother.
10. Common notes
I share the life-course of my current study (sure, it is practiced by all students in the world, but I simply cannot ignore this point here).
Summaries are good and very important. And very convenient when they are as full as possible. So we're "dumping" stuff on a secret group on Facebook. Someone gives a basic synopsis, everyone else adds their notes, and at the output, we have carefully checked, elaborated and very detailed text (probably worse than what the teacher has). It gives a sense of community, responsibility, and moreover, given the fact that in our group there are several moms with young children on an individual schedule, it is very helpful for those who for some reason missed a couple. Minus one stress, in short.
11. A sense of perspective
This should have been the first point because it was the most important. According to the training routine, it is lost. We forget what we are learning. And what is wonderful - we have to come. That is why I put my first point of advice on my own extracurricular project. The awareness of a "live", practical work outside the academy, of its potential place in the deep and wide professional world adds motivation, courage and ... inner peace. For any educational failure is not the end. Any unjust attitude is not yet a reason to lose faith in your abilities. Even the most boring subject may eventually agree. Or not. But the endurance and ease of attitude that he has developed during his academic life will be mandatory.
12. Training place
And again about comfort. Find a place where you learn best. The park, the library, the bed, the floor, the windowsill, and whatever. But arrange it so that it is convenient. Invest in your comfort. Garlands? Funny posters? Pillows? The French press at hand? Anything, just to let her focus on the process and feel the joy of it.
13. Sports
Guilty - I only realized its value now, at the age of 29. But not so much contribute to the effective functioning of the brain as good posture. So (oh!) Sports are important.
And while the summer goes on, let the adventures continue. Carelessness, passionate searches, morning talk, binge books. Maybe, in fact, it is these summer months between studies that give us the most.