{"id":40414,"date":"2025-04-10T09:44:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T14:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/?p=40414"},"modified":"2025-04-10T09:44:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T14:44:19","slug":"sticking-it-through-like-glue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/2025\/04\/10\/sticking-it-through-like-glue\/","title":{"rendered":"Sticking It Through, Like Glue!\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I hate school.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c___ doesn\u2019t teach.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t <\/span>stand<\/span><\/i> Mr.\/Ms. __.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the actual heck is this 90-part problem set??\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sound familiar? That\u2019s the average IMSA student struggling with the weight of their schoolwork, as well as frustrations with their everyday work. But there\u2019s something else that adds to their daily issues, stress, and elephant-sized workload: <\/span>pessimism.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

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\u2019s something that has been ingrained into our everyday life, and though it doesn\u2019t seem like it, pessimism multiplies the weight on our shoulders. Nonetheless, what if there were a way to get rid of this load <\/span>forever<\/span><\/i>? (Well, hopefully forever.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The key is to change your perspective. Easy enough, right?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

No.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In what way is changing someone\u2019s perspective easy? Do you remember when you tried to change your grandma\u2019s 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\u2019t going to ruin your whole life?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If changing someone else\u2019s perspective is more difficult than attempting to bring mammoths back to life, what makes you think that changing your own is easy? It\u2019s not\u2014but there <\/span>is <\/span><\/i>a way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>Let\u2019s go back in time to the one night you had to make a poster project for school the next day. What did you need?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Construction Paper\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Poster board\/paper (Don\u2019t forget this one!!)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Markers\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Glitter (Who doesn\u2019t want sparkly details??)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Scissors\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Wait\u2026 I think we\u2019re missing something\u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ohhh righhhht!!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    We\u2019re missing <\/span>glue<\/i><\/b>\u2014the 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    You\u2019re working on your school project, something that needs glue of optimism to keep it all together, but pessimism isn\u2019t the glue that you need. It\u2019s 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 <\/span>the glue is<\/em><\/span>? Any thought that might lessen your stress from life at IMSA, aka optimism. Before you say, \u201cconstantly being optimistic isn\u2019t good either,\u201d let me get one thing straight: too much of <\/span>anything<\/span><\/i> is what causes your downfall. Too much water, chips, broccoli, you name it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    What you need is a healthy balance between optimism and pessimism. Let\u2019s 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\u2019t smell that bad; it smells like any other citrus, something many moms like having in their kitchens. <\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    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\u2019re using the best type of \u201cglue\u201d? 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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Want to know how I tackle this mental hurdle? Here\u2019s a list of applications or videos that I personally found helpful:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Applications:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Google Sheets<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Notion\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Google Docs<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Google Calendar\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Videos:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      The Brain:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n