How to Handle Your Start of School Feelings

The start of a new school year can bring on a lot of emotions. Whatever your feelings are about starting school again, we have some helpful tips to manage your feelings and use them to start this school year on the right track.

Scared:

Nervous about meeting new people? Starting at a new school? Making friends? These are totally normal things to feel nervous about, but you don’t want to let your fear keep you from all the fun things that can happen at school.

TIPS: Talk to someone you trust. Remember a lot of people feel scared about starting something new– you’re not alone. Say something nice to one new person every day. Explore a new club or activity. Get familiar with the campus. Try eating lunch in a different spot each week.

Anxious or Stressed:

Do you get stressed just thinking about all the work you have to do this year?

TIPS: Look at your schedule and write down all the important dates for each class. Use daily lists to focus on what you have to do each day. Practice taking 3 deep breaths whenever you start to feel anxious or stressed. Consider starting a meditation or mindfulness practice, even if it’s just for 5-10 minutes every day. Check out more of our tips for starting a productive and stress-free school year.

Happy or Excited:

Feeling excited about starting a new school year is great! It’s an exciting time, so keep your enthusiasm up in all school-related activities.

TIPS: Approach new situations with positivity and enthusiasm. Try meeting new people. Reach out to classmates who might seem scared or anxious. Participate in your classes. Introduce yourself to your teachers.

Angry or Upset:

Are you angry about having to wake up early again for school or having less free time? This feeling is understandable, but don’t let it affect your whole year.

TIPS: Talk to someone about how you feel. When something makes you angry, try to find one positive thing about it- for example, if homework makes you angry, think about how you might learn something new from it. It might seem silly to do this, but it will help you start to see the positive side of situations. You can’t control a lot in life, but you can control how you think about and react to things.

how to handle your start of school feelings. Consider hiring a tutor.

Consider Hiring an Expert Tutor

Tutors at Hodis Learning & Music have years of experience helping students experiencing the full range of emotions about the start of school. Whether your student is in Kindergarten or in college, we have the right tutors for you! Call or email us today to learn more and get started.

Shine Bright and Start Strong Series: A Better Mindset to Achieve Success

So far in this series we’ve addressed:

How to set SMART goals (that you’ll actually achieve)
How to be more organized and efficient as a student

In this final installation of the Shine Bright and Start Strong Series we’ll discuss how to cultivate a better mindset to ensure effective sessions, and ultimately, your success.

We understand that sessions can be stressful. Whether you are struggling with:

A challenging school subject,
Scaling up your musical skills, or
Learning an art technique

There can be frustrations, stresses, and days when it just plain doesn’t make sense.

The key is to not let your frustrations get to you. And this simple technique can help you when the stress of a session is too much.

STEP 1: Close your eyes and take a deep breath in, then exhale for eight seconds.

Really control yourself to slow the breath for the full eight seconds. Repeat this breathing 5 times.

STEP 2: Identify what’s frustrating.

Do you keep forgetting the same vocabulary words? Do your fingers keep stumbling over that one part of the song you’re practicing? Identify it and verbalize it. Say “I’m frustrated because…”

STEP 3: Give yourself some perspective and kindness.

If this is your first time doing something, it’s going to be challenging. You’re not supposed to be an expert on the first try, and no one expects you to be.

If you were listening to your best friend getting frustrated over something, you’d make sure they weren’t beating themselves up. You’d try to make them feel better, right? Give yourself the same grace and kindness.

STEP 4: Give yourself some encouragement.

Keep pretending you’re talking to your best friend and trying to make them feel better. Give yourself a positive mantra, like some of the ones below:

Today’s been hard, but tomorrow will be better.
I am doing my best, and that’s enough.
I didn’t get it at first, but I will get it.
I got this!

Never forget that your tutor or educator is there to support you. If something isn’t making sense and you’re feeling upset about it, let us know! We’ll try a new approach and help you through this activity to make sure you’re learning.

Schedule your first session with Hodis Learning & Music today and keep an eye out for our next blog post!

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