Bouncing Back From Setbacks in School
Adjusting to school after about 2 months of a refreshing (or perhaps swamped) summer break is a daunting task for many of us, and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed due to this transition. After all, breaking into the flow of school requires a new state of motivation and commitment, one of which you must try your best to maintain throughout the entire school year. With the pressure of grades, extracurriculars/activities, work, and/or struggles with mental health, it’s very common to encounter setbacks throughout the school year. Experiencing these setbacks are completely normal, and it is important to acknowledge that the lows we go through can remind us of our perseverance and motivate us in the future. The following tips can help you understand how to overcome school setbacks and utilize them as fuel to ace the rest of your school year.
If you experience a setback, do not force yourself to forget the incident or shrug it off if it bothers you. Simply ignoring what occurred can return bad memories associated with it in the future or it can cause you to be in a poor mental state, especially if you feel like a failure or ashamed of what occurred. It is far better to mope and sulk about your failures rather than struggle in the long-run sorting through even more complicated feelings. Acknowledging (rather than ignoring) your feelings can help immensely in processing your setbacks. For example, if you receive a bad grade and feel terrible about it, do not simply avoid your feelings relating to disappointment and shame -- confront them before they build up and instead, complete an activity that can boost your mood. You can journal about your feelings to tackle your emotions head-on or practice meditation and use coloring books to sort your emotions out. Even watching your favorite movie or TV show allows you to acknowledge your feelings because by giving yourself enough time to shake off the setback, you can become more confident about yourself and gain the courage to bounce back.
Another way of coping with a setback is understanding whether you need to talk to someone. Different setbacks require different approaches, and you may need to speak with specific people who can help you overcome such setbacks. You can receive great advice from your peers, teachers, and family members depending on who you ask for help. For example, if you experience a setback in your physics class after receiving a bad grade, it may help speaking with a friend in your class about your struggles, and your friend can discuss how they were able to mentally overcome a poor physics grade. If you are experiencing a social issue in school such as struggling with forming friendships, your guidance counselor, sibling/s, or parent/s can offer you great advice. If you are experiencing mental health issues and are unable to complete your assignments on time, it is an excellent idea to speak with some of your teachers about your problems and ask them if they can provide any suggestions or assistance. Moreover, asking for help (and acknowledging that you need it) can definitely help you recover back from setbacks in all aspects of school.
A great way to overcome a setback is to create a strategy or a written game plan of what you should do next based on what you learned from this setback. Doing this can tremendously assist you with pushing forward and being more prepared for the next time you encounter a similar setback. For example, after failing a math test, you can reflect on what exactly caused you to fail, such as studying the night before or applying a study method that does not work best for you. For the former, consider developing a strategy to prevent study procrastination from occurring, such as setting up a schedule to study 30 minutes each day the week before your next math test. For the latter, determine what kind of learner you are by studying common learning styles (ex. auditory, visual, kinesthetic) and identifying what worked best for you in the past, then figuring out how to apply your specific learning style to your math class. Formulating strategies is overall a great way to reflect on your setbacks and help you feel more confident, allowing you to bounce back efficiently.
Keeping these tips in mind when experiencing a school setback can assist you with getting back on track and propel you to excel throughout the rest of the school year. Again, it is important to not be hard on yourself when you experience obstacles in school, and instead focus on what you can do in the moment to improve your performance in the future.
Sources:
Image credit:
Komentáre