Naisha Patel

When you think of winter, what comes to mind?

Maybe you think of snow, seasonal peppermint-flavored drinks, or presents shared and time spent with loved ones. No, it’s probably that jazzy Christmas carol that just won’t get unstuck from your head. Whatever it may be, chances are that if you’re thinking about winter, you’re thinking about the holidays.

But there’s one huge problem with that thought process: winter starts on December 21st, Christmas happens on the 25th, and New Year’s Day happens on January 1st. In reality, the holidays are over before you can say “winter” and we’re back to dragging ourselves through school. That means that less than two weeks into the season, everything that makes winter winter is over. What do we make of winter once the holidays are done with? What is there to celebrate? What do we look forward to? And my most pressing question, why is it so cold?

No one knows the answer to these questions. Maybe it’s because they’re so very profound, but mostly it’s because after winter break, no one has the time to even think. As soon as the new year comes around, students are flung into the final month of the second marking period before starting the third. Everyone’s heard of the Nightmare Before Christmas, but what about the nightmare after it?

 Students dread this time of year for countless reasons. Marking periods two and three put students’ willpower, hard work, and patience to the test. Teachers of all subjects begin to tackle the most daunting coursework, causing their students to spend more time doing assignments for a class than actually being in it. The anxiety of testing season looming over students’ heads is much worse than any anxiety caused by overhanging mistletoe. With harder work, and so much of it, every day burns you out a little bit more. The midwinter weather is gloomy and cold to make these marking periods feel worse. On top of that, barely anything happens to look forward to. The harsh reality is that for students, winter is more a nightmare than a holiday dream.

Thankfully, we’re all in this together; we’ve all lived through years and years of these nightmares after Christmas. So everyone’s two cents on surviving the season could someday be worth two hundred dollars of good advice. Students are well aware that procrastination, burnout, and stress are more bountiful than snow during the winter, and they’re well aware that it’s so tiring to be told about those things over and over again. The real question is how to make the most of these cold, sad months and how to stay happy throughout them.

The only way to avoid the nightmare after Christmas is by turning it into a dream, and here’s how:

1. Hold on to your holidays. Sadly, in the bleak midwinter, we don’t get a holiday. We don’t get anything besides freezing temperatures and gray skies. It’s unfair, really, but the last thing to do is let the gloomy weather dampen the holidays we do get. Groundhog Day and Valentine’s Day don’t really add a spring in your step like Thanksgiving or Christmas do. Unless you’re a groundhog fanatic or in a happy healthy relationship, in which case that’s great for you. But even Thanksgiving or Christmas wouldn’t be exciting if you didn’t look forward to them. The best thing to do this season is to hold on to your holidays. Deck out your Galentine’s Day to the nines with sugar cookies and candy and rom-coms. Take a day trip to Pennsylvania to see Punxsutawney Phil decide the fate of your wardrobe for the next six weeks. Do anything that makes the few holidays in midwinter worth celebrating.
2. Cook or bake for your family and friends. Cooking is the heart and soul of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Whether it be with friends or family, everyone’s been a  part of the cooking––and, fondly, the eating––during these holidays. While there are no celebrations during midwinter that call for cooking, giving yourself little culinary projects can keep you motivated and give you something to do. There are plenty of simple and easily shared recipes that you can do in your free time, like heart-shaped sandwich cookies or brioche bread. The best reward of cooking for loved ones is that you feel good when you make someone happy with what you make.
3. Study ahead! And that means now! Being efficient with your work is important year-round, but sometimes, even insane time management isn’t enough to eliminate stress. Studying ahead seems like it’s more effort than it’s worth, especially now when burnout is starting to set in. Still, it can be extremely helpful. Think about it—the more content you cover in the earlier, less-depressing half of winter, the more time you’ll have on your hands in the later, gloomier half. That way you can adjust to the heavier workload and also make time to sulk and stare miserably at a wall as the sun bids you adieu at 4:13 PM.
4. Find your own seasonal shows. When leaves have just started turning red in the fall, fans rush to rewatch Gilmore Girls. When the temperature dips for the first time, people watch Christmas classics like Home Alone and Elf. Watching seasonal shows and movies adds to the magic of the holidays, but midwinter is severely lacking in this department. No one makes movies with the spirit of midwinter in mind, so it’s up to you to curate a new list of classics for this season. Maybe historical rom-coms should take the spotlight in the season of Valentine’s Day. Or maybe cute adventures starring animals would be more suitable. Whichever is your cup of tea, drink from it.
5. Experiment with new music. The awkward teenage years high schoolers go through include entire personality changes every six months or so, though nothing switches up more often than music taste. Every couple of weeks, trending songs, playlists, and albums change drastically. It can take even just days for someone to grow bored of a song. But some songs remain staples associated with every season. Christmas carols were tailor-made for the holidays, like some pop songs are for summer. Like films, barely any songs are produced with midwinter in mind. But that doesn’t mean there is no genre to describe the feeling of winter. Indie, alt, or R&B could all be genres to look for your next seasonal favorites. Just try to avoid sad music; there’s enough of that going around already.
6. Give yourself something to look forward to. Plan activities, wind-down days, hangouts with friends, shopping trips, or anything else to look forward to during times of stress and exhaustion. Spending thirty minutes every weekend on self-care or relaxing can help you reset after a difficult week and refresh yourself for the next. Having something to look forward to is extremely important, and where else are you looking if not the future? Being excited about something gives you a reason to get through your coursework, study hard, and do your best knowing that something good is coming. During the longest, loneliest months of the year, nothing is more important than staying happy and motivated.

The midwinter can push you to your limit physically, mentally, and emotionally. Constant academic stress combined with the looming threat of burnout isn’t exactly anyone’s dream winter. There’s no way around it, no secret hack to make these months easier. But what we can do is take care of ourselves and find things to enjoy even in the bleakest of seasons. There is so much advice on managing work, time, and activities, but the secret to enduring this season is really quite simple: Keeping yourself happy. Motivation is the key to enduring difficult periods, and people are rarely motivated when they’re unhappy. With this motivation, even insurmountable tasks become far more manageable. Spending all your energy on your work and expecting everything else to fall into place will only result in shutting down. And remember, the only way to fix the nightmare after Christmas is to try your best to make it a dream.