Sticking It Through, Like Glue! 

“I hate school.”

“___ doesn’t teach.”

“I can’t stand Mr./Ms. __.”

“What the actual heck is this 90-part problem set??”

Sound familiar? That’s the average IMSA student struggling with the weight of their schoolwork, as well as frustrations with their everyday work. But there’s something else that adds to their daily issues, stress, and elephant-sized workload: pessimism. 

A common problem a lot of IMSA students face is the inability to overcome their pessimistic view of everything assigned to them, regardless of how much time and resources they are provided with. It’s something that has been ingrained into our everyday life, and though it doesn’t seem like it, pessimism multiplies the weight on our shoulders. Nonetheless, what if there were a way to get rid of this load forever? (Well, hopefully forever.) 

The key is to change your perspective. Easy enough, right? 

No. 

In what way is changing someone’s perspective easy? Do you remember when you tried to change your grandma’s mind on making that (not-so-good) meatloaf she insists on bringing every Thanksgiving? What about when you tried to convince your parents that the one B you got on a minor assignment wasn’t going to ruin your whole life? 

If changing someone else’s perspective is more difficult than attempting to bring mammoths back to life, what makes you think that changing your own is easy? It’s not—but there is a way. 

Let’s go back in time to the one night you had to make a poster project for school the next day. What did you need? 

1. Construction Paper 
2. Poster board/paper (Don’t forget this one!!) 
3. Markers 
4. Glitter (Who doesn’t want sparkly details??) 
5. Scissors 

Wait… I think we’re missing something… 

Ohhh righhhht!! 

We’re missing glue—the one thing that holds everything together, the one thing that single-handedly keeps your entire project from making your house a glitter-covered snow globe. 

You’re working on your school project, something that needs glue of optimism to keep it all together, but pessimism isn’t the glue that you need. It’s the orange juice or milk you accidentally knocked over on the morning the project was due, an unnecessary, life (and grade) ruining problem. But do you even know what the glue is? Any thought that might lessen your stress from life at IMSA, aka optimism. Before you say, “constantly being optimistic isn’t good either,” let me get one thing straight: too much of anything is what causes your downfall. Too much water, chips, broccoli, you name it. 

What you need is a healthy balance between optimism and pessimism. Let’s return to the poster you ruined with juice or milk. Instead of crying or trying to shrug it off, look for the good in the situation. Sure, it sucks, but what if the milk or orange juice gave it a cool-looking pattern? How does it smell now? Orange juice doesn’t smell that bad; it smells like any other citrus, something many moms like having in their kitchens.

Like I said previously, optimism is your glue at IMSA, and you are the rest of the elements within your school project. But how can you make sure that you’re using the best type of “glue”? By managing what parts of your life you choose to prioritize, you will build up to the best version of yourself. I find that using customized Google Sheets to get a feel of my day, as well as a to-do list (which I sometimes ignore), helps me concentrate and narrow down the items to do for the day. 

Want to know how I tackle this mental hurdle? Here’s a list of applications or videos that I personally found helpful: 

Applications: 

1. Google Sheets
2. Notion 
3. Google Docs
4. Google Calendar 

Videos: 

The Brain: 

• How To Force Your Brain To Crave Doing Hard Things
• How to Train a Brain: Crash Course Psychology #11
• You’re Not Lazy : How To Force Your Brain To Crave Doing Hard Things
• How To Reprogram Your Dopamine To Crave Hard Work
• How to Trick Your Brain into Doing Hard Things

Notion: 

• how I use notion as a busy college student! // free aesthetic templates

Google Sheets: 

• How to Make an Assignment Tracker | Google Sheets Tutorial
• Calendar Checklist Tutorial – How to make a Calendar To-Do List FREE Google Sheets Template
• How to create your own Habit Tracker in Google Sheets – TUTORIAL + FREE TEMPLATE

Similar to the project, your life at IMSA doesn’t have to be a sucky incident filled with negative energy-draining thoughts. Your optimism will inevitably fade, so it’s essential to reapply it to take advantage of any situation. By balancing optimism and realism (not pessimism), you can and will navigate the curve balls that IMSA chooses to hurl at you. 

I know you can do it, so remember: you can stick it through, like glue!!