A Spring Semester Psych-Up Blog

Picture I snapped last spring at the campus of Carthage

So it's February. And it is cold out. The wonder of laziness and adventure that you had during j-term is over. It's back to the lab again. It's time to return to long walks in the cold, hours of homework every night, work shifts, and long nights in the library. I know at this time of the year a lot of people are tired out. Sick of school. Sick of the cold. My goal in this article is to give you all a Jack Donaghy-like psych-up speech.

February is regarded by some as "the worst month of the year." Some people experience seasonal depression. The holidays are over, yet it is still freezing outside. Football season just ended. And if you are single like I am, Valentine's Day is your least favorite holiday. When I was younger, I used to always get down once Christmas over. But there is a Relient K lyric that I think has a lot of value: "Christmas makes way for spring." And it's true.

Fall semester is a lot harder for me than spring semester is. In fall semester, the temperature is progressively getting colder. The leaves are falling from the trees. The life is getting sucked out of nature. Which is why it is so great to have Thanksgiving and Christmas to look forward to. But spring semester is the exact opposite.

While Christmastime may not come around for eleven months or so, things are coming to life! Spring is on its way! Flowers are blooming and trees are budding. The sun is coming back out. The days are getting longer. It will no longer get dark at 4:30 pm! As the semester rolls along, it will get warmer outside.

My favorite part of spring time? The return of baseball season! I love the fresh hope that you have as you watch your team play on opening day. I love the stimulating joy that you feel as you return to your team's ballpark for the first time of the year. I love the smell of the freshly cut grass, the taste of hot dogs grilled to perfection, and the sight of your team playing with the city that you love in the background.

But there is more to spring than just being a spectator. I love spring because it is a time for me to dust off my baseball glove, punch it a couple of times, go outside, play some catch with my buddies or my dad, shag fly-balls, or have a home run derby at the local park. I love not having to be cooped up inside of my dorm room, and going outside. I love going out and playing nine holes of golf with my dad or my friends, meanwhile having hours of meaningful conversation as we struggle to keep our drives on the fairway, take ugly-looking hacks in the sand-traps, and four-put our way to the cup.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. Really Jack? You just had to bring up baseball and golf, the two most "boring" sports in the world. Maybe you don't love the same things that I love. But maybe you love something different. Maybe you can finally go back outside to play ultimate frisbee, or pick-up soccer. Maybe you're a runner and you love to run down the bike trail or down the lake shore. Maybe you love to bike. Maybe you don't love any of these things, and maybe this is your opportunity to get outside and try.

Perhaps last semester was the worst three-month stretch of your life. Perhaps you struggled to make friends. Perhaps you rushed a fraternity or a sorority and were told that you weren't good enough. Perhaps you are a freshman and you were a great student in high school, and you picked up some bad habits your first semester, and you didn't succeed for the first time in your life. Perhaps you have never been a good student and being put on academic probation made you realize that you needed to make a change. Perhaps your boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with you, or you had personal struggles occurring from the outside world. Maybe you contemplated not coming back for second semester. I don't know. But I do know something.

As bad as last semester could have been, it is over. You survived. You made it. Your old classes are gonezo. You have a clean slate, a fresh start, whether you realize it or not. If you didn't do well academically, now is your chance to step your game up. If there is a club or something that you thought about going to last semester and wanted to get involved with, give it a shot! Step outside your comfort zone. This is your opportunity to be a new person, or an improved version of your old self.

And if you hit some speed bumps along the way, lick your wounds and keep going. Don't get discouraged if you screwed something up. Don't dwell on it. You didn't blow your opportunity. Failure is a blessing in disguise. Jesus says, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world," (John 16:33). We will have trouble. The only question is how will we handle that trouble?

Give yourself checkpoints. Break the semester up in to chunks and allow for yourself to relax. Spring breaks is only 7 weeks away, right after midterms. Not long after that is Easter. By the time you get back from Easter, you'll only have a month and a half left of school, and then it will be summer.

Breathe in the fresh, spring air, see what God has in store for you, and make the most of it. Spring is a season filled with hope. My hope this spring, is that you find hope.