Flowers have begun to peek out of garden beds and birds have begun to chirp outside our windows. Once the Ohio weather seems to promise a forecast of shorts and sunglasses, that’s when I know that the school year is coming to a close. Right now, it is obvious that everyone is itching for classes to end and summer break to begin. For the senior class, only a few more milestones are left to check off. For next year’s seniors, I’m sure the need to wrap up the year is largely a result of the immense pressure and stress that is junior year.
I look forward to summer because, of course, it means high UV and low responsibility. But sometimes, I’m ready to get back to my “summer self ” and put my “school self ” aside. Of course, it’s natural for us to adapt to our environments, and stress plays a large factor in our energy and excitement during the day. But when we turn off the parts of ourselves that make things enjoyable, engaging and meaningful, just so that we can focus on school, we lose the parts that make everything bearable. Productivity should never trump authenticity, and even though school is important, it is not everything.
It isn’t easy finding meaning in each of the hundreds of assignments we submit to Canvas. Productivity can feel robotic, completing and turning in lab reports, essays, reviews and reading checks, waiting to receive a grade in Powerschool. It can be hard to stay engaged in core classes required for graduation or electives used to fill your schedule, especially as we creep closer to the end of the year. Sometimes, all we are looking for is a little bit of purposeful productivity: finding fulfillment in the places and projects you spend time on.
I’m lucky enough to have a class where all my productivity is purposeful. All my hard work actually produces something meaningful. I know not everybody has a class where they can practice purposeful productivity, and that’s okay. Up until my junior year, I was still searching for a place where my work was meaningful, and outside of the newsroom, I still have classes that I wouldn’t be taking unless I had to.
We are all ready for a much-needed break and a few months of carefree days. Even though all of us are close to the year coming to an end, we can’t forget that there is more to life than what colleges we attend, what classes we schedule and what grades we get. I urge you to remind yourself that during this time, we aren’t just building a transcript, we are living our lives.
