Study Breaks

'Tis the season to be studying! I have three in-class finals to prepare for (in philosophy, Japanese, and English), a philosophy paper to finish editing, and an education paper to finish writing and editing. Then that's it. I'm done. I'll be halfway through my sophomore year of college. I've had a really good semester. I enjoyed almost everything academically, and I continue to meet wonderful new people while strengthening the friendships I already have. I'm looking forward to next term though, because I will have basically the same schedule but philosophy (which was my weak point this term) will be swapped out for another English class. Also, two of my best friends who were abroad during the fall will be back in my dorm!! It's going to be awesome to see them again.

So, in this busy time of year, Lewis and Clark sponsors a lot of "de-stress" events, which are really convenient to, well, de-stress! Some of them are sponsored by the college, and some are sponsored by a residence hall or cluster of residence halls. Some are just events put on by clubs or classes. Here are some of the things you can do to take study breaks at the end of the year:

1. Okay, this one is super English-nerdy, but my English class is doing a reading of Paradise Lost in the Manor House. It's purely optional - i.e. you don't have to stay for all 11 hours of Paradise Lost and can just pop in whenever you want. Taking turns reading Milton's epic poetry aloud in comfy chairs as the rain taps on the window is my idea of a good time. Oh, and at the part where Satan persuades Eve to eat from the tree of knowledge, we're all going to take a bite of an apple.

2. Tonight, I'm going to a calligraphy night put on by the Japan club. Mostly because I know there will be Japanese food there.

3. A couple of the residence halls including mine had a joint end-of term hall dinner. I ate a lot of kahlua pork and met a bunch of people who I had always wanted to talk to but never got the chance until now!

4. Meditation.

5. Acupuncture (though I am a little afraid to try that) and massages.

6. PETTING THERAPY DOGS IN THE LIBRARY! This is just what everyone needs in their life. Dogs, dogs, dogs.

7. Watching Disney movies and do puzzles and color in coloring books. This is also in the library.

So, there's a lot of stuff going on. There are so many study break options one could hypothetically get absolutely no studying done because reading days would just be one long study break. I'm hoping to get a group together to study for the philosophy final, but mostly I prefer to study alone. I learn better when I'm in a quiet environment.

Anyways, some of you probably have finals to look forward to as well, so thanks for taking a study break to read this! Good luck. If you have questions, email me at jessicakostka@lclark.edu.

Jess