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An Open Letter To My Mid-Semester Self

An Open Letter To My Mid-Semester Self

Dear Mid-Semester Me,

School has just begun and I spent the summer working, soaking up whatever sun I could, buying kitchy knick knacks for the new place, and missing our precious little. Now it’s time to get back to the grind. I’m feeling fresh and new, but you are probably starting to run on fumes. I know you can do it! I just want to remind you about a few things that we swore that we would do this upcoming semester.

First off, keep up that GPA, girl!! Do that extra credit. Pleeeeease. I’m sorry I didn’t already do it, but we both know we work best under pressure right? Hit the library (invite that cute boy from class you’ve been flirting with all year) and go to the writing center to get your final papers edited. I know we say every year that we’ll do it, but let’s actually do it this time. Did you go to your professors for help or ask another sister who has taken the class before? No? Ok, then do it, ya dingus.

Secondly, you better not still be talking to that guy from freshman year. I know, I know, he’s sooooo our type and you just feel like something is going to happen, but it’s not! The same thing happens every time: you talk for a week straight, you hang out with him that weekend, and then he disappears into thin air for months at a time. We can absolutely do better. Like someone who will acknowledge us at all hours of the day. Stop making up dumb excuses to text him, stop pretending to mass snap him to see if he’ll open it or answer it, and move on. There are plenty of polo-clad fish in the fratty sea, and we are a catch and a half. I hope this year you took a few chances and maybe tried something with someone who usually isn’t our type. Or be completely, 100%, no strings attached, single. I don’t think we’ve done that since 5th grade.

Did you call home today? You know how much they worry about you, even if there is no reason to. Or there is every reason to.

Let’s be nicer to our body. We live STEPS away from the campus gym and our incredibly sparse schedule gives us no excuses. Keep up our effort to consume something other than boxed wine and carbs. We can forgive ourselves for a drunken slice of pizza, but drinking until we throw up said pizza is not ideal. Also, hey, let’s skip Twofer Tuesdays once in awhile. Our Wednesday morning hangovers and uncomfortable yet inevitable run ins with ex-hookups will not be missed. And it’s definitely not helping our grades (see above, smart is sexy).

Clean out our closet. That one shirt you are saving because we think we’ll wear it one day? That one day hasn’t come for the last two years. There are tags on it. Try to return it, and if that fails, then give it away. Throw out that pair of yoga pants with the hole in the crotch. It is way more noticeable than we think it is. By the way, we need another pair of shoes as much as we need a hole in the head, so quit ordering them online.

Stop the Netflix binges and constant cycle of checking social media. You live with your best friends, and if you’re sick of them, your other friends live within a one-mile radius. Have a real life conversation with them. Go exploring together. Eat lunch with a stranger. Make human interaction cool again.

While we’re on the subject of technology, can we delete Tinder already? We only use it to stroke our already incredibly massive ego. We are a girl. Every boy would try to smash. It’s science. The false validity it gives us pales in comparison to looking in the mirror and swiping right for yourself. Plus, it’s getting super weird not knowing if you recognize a guy from real life or the four pictures of them that you meticulously scrutinized.

DO LAUNDRY. ESPECIALLY SHEETS.

I was thinking about trying out a new club or a leadership position. This is our time to explore interests we never knew we had. Expand our minds and find new ways of thinking. I don’t care if it’s improv, cooking classes, being on Exec board, or actually sticking to a yoga regimen, I want to do something new. We have a lot of great ideas we can bring to any organization whether we are already involved or not.

Most importantly, remember to have a blast. We won’t remember the stress we felt about that one exam. We’ll remember nights in with friends and try to forget the nights out with them. Take pictures and keep doing you. I know you will. Or we will I guess.

xoxo,
Beginning Of The Semester You

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Ali Hin

A born and raised Jersey girl, she can always be found covered in sand and pizza sauce. Her personal brand is "that girl." She prefers wine in bottles because she thinks outside of the box. Send fan mail to [email protected] or by smoke signal.

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