President’s Letter

Words Isaac Solomon

We’ve reached that point in study period 2 where for many people, assignments start to become due, the excitement of being back on campus has started to wane and the excessive consumption of caffeine has become a daily ritual.

It’s important that as we approach the middle of the study period, we have self-care in mind. The middle of a study period is undoubtably one of the hardest parts of the academic year. We’ve begun to form habits, good or bad, and the true workload of each course has finally become apparent.

During the coming weeks, we should take some time to reflect on how we are tracking so far. Are there some habits we’ve formed that we don’t like and need to replace with new ones? Are we intentionally putting aside time for ourselves to relax and refresh our brains? If we started the year with goals to eat healthily and exercise, are we still putting aside time for those things?

At this time of year things can become hard both academically and financially. If you require any financial assistance, even if it’s just learning how to put together a budget, USASA offers a free and completely confidential financial counselling service to all students. If you ever run into academic trouble, our advocacy team are here to help, and if you ever think there is anything we could do better, or you need some assistance from a fellow student, our friendly USASA reps are only ever an email away.

At the recent campus fair, many students joined our clubs and societies. If you are someone who recharges by attending social events and taking part in activities, there are a whole range of clubs, based on your interests, that hold social events throughout the year, which you can join via the USASA website. If you’re someone who prefers connecting online rather than in person, there are also a vast number of discord chats and online events held by USASA clubs.

It’s important that at this time of year we reflect on these questions and continue to show up to class and work hard so that we will thank ourselves later when we’re finally up and over the hill. Best of luck for the rest of the study period.

Until next time.

Isaac