It’s that time of year…

Like many other Columbia students, I find it difficult to think about anything other than my impending doom during finals season. The tunnel vision is real, and I often feel like my friends and I are falling off the face of the earth. Every library is full (besides Teacher’s College, shhh…), and juggling finals assignments for five classes is no easy feat.

This reading week, I decided to actually get up, walk through the cold, and go to an event that I had seen advertised in my email. On Thursday, December 11, I attended Undergraduate Student Life’s “Student Crafting Corner.” I was immediately greeted with warm, festive jazz and an abundance of holiday crafting supplies. They provided everything needed to decorate ornaments and an adorable Columbia-themed holiday coloring book. Everybody loves free stuff, and often these random events in your email are a great way to get that.

I joined a table with one other girl and started some pleasant conversation. We were studying extremely different programs but bonded over a mutual love for a professor. As we decorated our ornaments and listened to jazz, I finally got to think about something besides my evil French final.

On campus, I have had so many conversations where people rightly complain about a lack of community at Columbia. It is a fact we are all too aware of. In my view, the initial steps to build a better community will consist of showing up to spaces that we are provided. This cute crafting event was easily accessible but had so many open seats. The pressure to succeed and accomplish everything at Columbia can be so intense that we often forget that college doesn’t have to be this way.

I am not saying you should spend all of reading week painting something for your mom, but I am suggesting that you be more intentional about your time and the spaces you occupy on campus. Taking an intentional study break, such as creative events like this, going for a walk, tidying up, or laughing with a friend (not just scrolling on your phone in the Butler bathroom) can boost your memory, energy, and ability to focus! So go scroll through your email, look at some flyers, and show up for events that people put so much work into providing for you.

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