Real Talk: Freezing Weather, College Offers and Staying Motivated

The past two weeks have been hectic for both good and kind-of-bad reasons, it was so terribly cold in Toronto for a few days, dropping to about -30 to -35 degrees (Celsius) though I’m sure that some parts of Canada (and the world) were much colder. Another factor for the week being hectic is receiving the offers from colleges you applied to months ago, and trying to stay motivated to upkeep your marks.

So first up, the freezing cold temperatures that hit Toronto. It was bad, it hit twice I believe and I managed to stay at home the first “freeze” but I ended up having to make the trek to school on the day of the second “freeze”. I must say, that the cloth face mask I bought over the summer came in handy. It prevented my nose from freezing, and protected a part of my face from the cold that my scarf couldn’t cover.

Another side effect of the colder temperature (other than having to bring out the face mask) is that I actually had to take up either layering my skincare so that I add a cream at the end (I usually don’t) or I’d have to bring my cream/moisturizer to school with me to avoid drying out. It doesn’t really seem like a big deal, especially since the face mask covers my dry spots,  but I like being prepared rather than hurting LOL.

**For those wondering, I currently use Laneige’s Water Bank Moisture Cream as my last step of skincare in the morning. It’s actually geared towards those with dry skin, however, it leaves this satin finish and I like how it helps protect my skin from drying in this weather.**

Now the beginning of February also means that most college/university applicants will begin to receive offers from the colleges/universities they applied to. Which I find kind of daunting, because  if you don’t get a reply, it feels like you’re left hanging. More so for me because I like having stability/knowing what’s going to happen next, which is kind of funny because I received 2 offers from 3 of my applications. 

Backstory: I applied to 3 programs at one specific college (2 different campuses) that I all equally liked, but I did have a first choice program. I got two offers the morning of February 1st that both had me excited and very slightly disappointed, I got into the two programs but not my first choice, which is still unclear.

I’m happy that I got offers, but I didn’t get my first choice (yet?) because it’s still on pending. I’ll just see what happens and move on from there I guess, because I do like all of the programs I applied to.  I’m not really picky as to which program, but deep thought is needed to make a decision here lol.

Now on the topic of college offers, it kind of leads into the next topic I want to talk about; staying motivated. I don’t just mean starting motivated if you didn’t get your first choice, but I also want to say that it also goes towards those who have already gotten their offers. We need to stay motivated to get through the rest of this year with good grades, because while we have gotten offers, I believe the school could probably take back the offer if we get a lower mark.

I honestly might be overthinking it, but when you get your offer, celebrate with a small group of friends. Have a big party after you’re out of the clear (probably graduation time I guess). This way you’ll still be able to upkeep your mark, and get scholarships if you qualify.

One way I stay motivated after I’ve gotten my offers, is that I set small goals of what I want my next assignment’s marks to be. You can do this for homework as well, but be reasonable and realistic with your goals. So if for example, I’m getting 80% in my homework assignments, I’d aim for 85% on the next one instead of 100%.

I find that it’s a lot easier to stay motivated to keep working hard at school, if your program has a course minimum requirement. But at the same time, it’s also quite daunting to keep that amount.

*P.s I actually pushed this blog post to be posted around February 2nd but I was hit with a weekend assignment I had to complete so I put off this post. Then I also skipped another post on the 6th, so you’ll receive 2 this week and it will continue like scheduled.

Anyways, I hope you’ve enjoyed this ‘real talk’ session. If you have any suggestions for future ‘real talk’ blog post topics, I’ll have a topic suggestion thing up soon. Thanks for reading!