Reading Week: Taking time to recharge and plan ahead
C/O Yoohyun Park
The importance of self-care and managing school and other stressors
By: Anna Samson, Contributor
About halfway through every semester, Canadian postsecondary students get one week off from school. Known as a mid-term recess, or reading week, this week is meant for students to catch up on class material and assignments. It is also used as a break so that students can take some time to rest before entering the homestretch of the semester.
This year, at McMaster University, reading week for the fall 2021 semester ran from Oct. 11 to 17.
The break is a chance for many students to spend time with family and friends. Like most fall semester reading weeks, this year’s reading week aligned with Thanksgiving weekend. In the winter semester, it aligns with Family Day. Both holidays offer good opportunities for students to reconnect with their loved ones.
Aside from seeing friends and family, students can use the break as a chance to do some self-care that they may have slacked on in lieu of schoolwork. This can include getting more sleep, taking long baths, spending time in nature, journaling, doing hobbies or just going out and having fun.
Yuka Abe, a fourth-year kinesiology student, spent her break reconnecting with family and friends. She also got some rest and devoted time to leisure reading.
“I did read more, I think, which I haven’t done in a while. So, that was pretty nice, just reading for fun and not like school readings,” said Abe.
Since fall of 2019, students have had reading weeks that were filled with health anxiety and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fall of 2021 is the first reading week since the pandemic started where students are not stuck at home. As places open back up and people get fully vaccinated, students now have more options regarding how they choose to spend their reading week.
Zeinab Khawaja, a Health Promoter at the Student Wellness Centre at McMaster, highlights the importance of adequate sleep and rest and not being too hard on yourself throughout the school year. Her major piece of advice for students about managing stress is two-fold.
“One: trusting in your ability to handle things and get the supports that you need, because they exist at McMaster and within your social circles. Two: prioritizing rest. Say ‘this is my cut-off time and I’m gonna do as much as I can by then and then I’m gonna rest guilt-free or go to bed’,”
Zeinab Khawaja
The Student Wellness Centre has services available to students year-round. These include counseling and therapy sessions, both individually or by group, medical care and health promotion and wellness resources. Most services are covered under the McMaster Student Union Health Plan.
As this week off from school falls around the middle of the semester, students are often preoccupied with studying for midterms. Some midterms are due right before reading week, which gives students some time to recharge and recuperate afterward. Other midterms may fall after reading week, which provides students with more uninterrupted time to prepare and revise.
However, although reading week is meant to relieve stress for students, trying to balance productivity and finding time to rest can also induce greater stress for some.
With one midterm before reading week and two more during the first week back from the break, Abe was one student who felt that the break did not offer enough time for relaxing.
“I don’t think I was able to relax as much as I could’ve, or wanted to, during the break because I was just thinking about the midterms or like studying for them,” said Abe.
Other students have also expressed similar sentiments in previous years.
To help organize and manage schoolwork, students can use planners to make note of due dates. Scheduling programs and apps are also great ways for students to make realistic schedules for all the tasks they have to juggle. Most importantly, making time for self-care, including exercise and relaxation, can help reduce stress.
Khawaja emphasizes the need for students to be kind to themselves.
“Forgiv[e] yourself for not completing every single thing you wanted to do and not doing everything at 110%. We’re humans, we can’t constantly be functioning at “100%” and our best looks different every single day,” said Khawaja.
Through self-kindness, rest and realistic planning, students can achieve a healthy balance between their lives and their workload. It is important that students find ways to use the reading week to enrich their minds and bodies and not feel overwhelmed by school.
