Strategic use of the mid-semester break


Wishing all students and staff an effective mid-semester break, however you intend to use it. In this post, I briefly explore some common mid-semester break strategies. Reading time ~ 4 minutes.ย 


2022 has been super busy. I probably don’t need to alert you to that fact. It seems to be the case for everyone I’ve spoken to this year.

In the rush of it all, the mid semester breaks are useful periods of time to activate the strategies necessary to keep ourselves on track.

Exactly what strategies you activate will be a function of what is happening in your life at the moment.

Here are some common strategies people employ during the mid-semester break. Do any of these appeal to you?

The healthy escape ๐Ÿ–

In the healthy escape approach, you leave behind your university studies for a little while and explore the other things that life has to offer – holiday, sports, outdoors, hobbies, interests, social events etc. The person taking the healthy escape knows that some time away from their studies will help rejuvenate their energy and interest in their studies.

 

The worker ๐Ÿ‘ท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

The worker uses the time freed up from lectures and tutorials to ratchet up their work hours and stock the bank account. It might be purely about the cash or in the case of those that enjoy their work, a nice escape to a different aspect of life.

 

The study catchup ๐Ÿ“š

It is pretty normal to fall behind a bit during a busy semester, so for some the mid-semester break is a chance to complete the backlog of work/assignments/readings etc.

 

The exam wind up ๐Ÿ’ฅ

Depending on your course and topics, you may have exams in the near future, and some use the break to start their exam preparation routines – study plans, revision etc. They try to get a head start on the preparation necessary. If this is you, this series might help.

 

Family/friend time ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ง

For those whose study means time away from family, the break can be a good opportunity to nurture important family social ties – days with the kids, family time, day trips etc. Or it might mean time with a partner or close friends.

 

The ‘no strategy’ strategy ๐Ÿšซ

This has been a favourite of mine, which is to attempt to abandon all strategies and leave my holiday fate to the winds. Wake up each day and try not to conform to any specific path. Paradoxically, whilst it appears to not be a strategy, it is actually a strategy.

 

The sleeper ๐Ÿ˜ด

They sleep.

 

The combo ๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ง๐Ÿ’ฅ๐Ÿ“š๐Ÿ‘ท๐Ÿผโ€โ™‚๏ธ๐Ÿ– ๐Ÿšซ๐Ÿ˜ด

The mid-semester break contains enough time to do a bunch of these and for some its a smorgasboard of options, sampling a little bit from multiple strategies. Work, family, friends, hobbies, lazing by the pool, YouTube marathons. The combo lover tries to get all options in.

 

Have you launched a particular strategy for your mid-semester break? Is it any of the above? Is it a totally different one? Would love to hear it and feel free to share in the comments below.

I am however mindful that you might not be reading university emails as part of your strategy ๐Ÿ˜Š So I am sending you best wishes, regardless of whether you ever read this or not.

I hope that whatever mid-semester break approach you take, you are able to make it a reality.

We’ll see you back here in a couple of weeks for the final sprint to the end of 2022.

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