Back to School Guest Post

Amelia Wood has some tips for you on how to start off this school year (and fall season):

         

Back to School? Four Ways to Start the Year Off With a Bang

At the end of every school year, students across the nation are released from the confines of their campuses and set loose into the wild – free to do whatever their hearts desire for the summer days and nights. Yet as the months slowly wither away day by day, before these students know it they'll have to return to their school campuses and start another year all over again.

For some students, going back to school feels as invigorating as waking up to a snowy Christmas morning – full of surprise, cheer, anticipation, and excitement; for others, going back to school may feel something like a harsh prison sentencing. Yet there is no reason going back to school should fill anyone with dread and angst; in fact, if anything, going back to school gives everybody the opportunity to embrace a new beginning. For those of you who are about to start a new school year, here are four ways to start the occasion off with a bang.

Make at least five new friends

It's tempting to jump right back into your old ways when school starts up. I would always look for my closest friends when I got back to school – hoping they would have similar schedules so I'd have someone to hang with during the day. Even though it's great to reconnect with old friends, a new school year offers us the chance to meet new people, and one should always take up that opportunity. It's not always easy to start up a conversation with people we don't know, but sometimes just sitting next to a new person and asking how their summer went is a great start to making new friends. I always made it a goal to make five new friends in my classes, and it somehow always worked out. Sure, it might sound challenging at first, but, believe me, it's much easier than you think. Just take your time and start conversing with those around you in the early days of your classes. Before you know it, you'll have a handful of new friends.

Go out of your fashion comfort zone

Back-to-school shopping isn't the cheapest thing to do, yet most of us will end up biting the bullet and shelling out cash for new threads. You may be tempted to flock to the clothes you're most comfortable wearing when you start shopping, but for the sake of shaking things up, go ahead and venture out of your fashion comfort zone. Let's say you're used to wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt; well, perhaps you should walk to the opposite end of the store and try on some colorful pants (which are very much in style right now) and a more elegant top. You don't have to go crazy and replace your whole closet, but sometimes integrating a few new pieces here and there will make a big difference. You don't have to limit your fashion changes to clothes either. If you want to change up your hairstyle, shoes, makeup patterns, or anything else, go for it! You're only young once.

Set new fitness/nutrition goals

You don't have to be overweight to consider making some changes to your nutrition and fitness goals. Everybody could use a few changes in their eating and workout patterns every now and then. Oddly enough, starting the school year is the perfect opportunity to analyze your eating/fitness patterns and decide how you should change them up. Perhaps you don't work out as much as you should or maybe you eat unhealthy snacks whenever you're on campus. Wherever you see your weaknesses rearing their ugly heads, do yourself a huge favor and take control of your health. Improving overall health has an immense effect on how we feel about ourselves, which helps us interact much better with the people and environment around us.

Become more school spirited

When I was in college, I couldn't wait for class to end so I could run home and watch reality television shows on Tivo. As you can imagine, I wasn't the most school-spirited person of all time. Some of us are born with pride; others must cultivate it. Believe it or not, there is a way to make yourself become more school spirited, and you shouldn't waste one minute not being proud of your university. After all, didn't you pay to attend it? You don't have to go to the next football game and paint your chest with school colors to prove your pride; in fact, your efforts could be as simple as volunteering for an organization, joining associations or groups within your major, attending occasional sporting events, or reading the student newspaper. By learning a bit more about your university and increasing your involvement with it, you'll eventually find yourself feeling full of pride for your school.

Starting the new year may feel a bit overwhelming, yet sometimes all it takes for us to get excited about the event is to start incorporating some new habits into our lives. See how you can integrate some of these four exciting changes into your new school year.

Amelia Wood is a blogger and freelance writer with a passion for helping people find medical billing and coding jobs. She welcomes suggestions and queries at amelia1612@gmail.com.