Ways to Unwind While Waiting for College Decisions
Today, I want to talk about how to unwind, de-stress, and relax while waiting for decisions. Even if not showing it on the outside, students often hold a lot of stress inside during this time, even if it’s just the anxiety of not knowing. It’s important to know what your student can do to unwind and get through this waiting period in a healthy way!
Know If/How/When/Where They Want to Talk About It
Your student is allowed to wake up on a Tuesday and not talk about their anticipation of college decisions. Some days they may be feeling excited and hopeful, and others they may be feeling negative and anxious. It’s okay for emotions to be all over the place and for them to change, and they may not be open at talking about it. I recommend that parents make themselves available to their student in case they do need to vent, and ensure they know you are available and willing to listen.
Focus on Hobbies and Interests
This is a great time for high school seniors to focus on the things they love! Whatever their hobbies or interests are, encourage them to dive in a get their minds off of the stress of college admissions. This can also include trying something new! Senior year is of course important academically, but many students find their workload lessening a bit this year - so it might be a good opportunity to do something they’ve never done before. Spending energy doing things they enjoy is helpful for their mental health and helping them through a stressful time.
Journal
Journaling is a fantastic way to understand all of those thoughts and feelings milling around in our brains. Journal therapy helps us to understand ourselves better and move through times of change. Can you think of a time for teenagers that is better suited for journaling than senior year of high school?! As an aside, I’m a huge fan of journaling no matter the age - but this is a great time to start.
Stay Healthy
Yeah, everyone’s talking about it - but eating healthy and exercising are the best ways to treat our body well during times of anxiousness. Provide it with the nutrients it needs while it’s working in overdrive and give it endorphins to power through the stressful times. Again, this is the perfect time to build in a new exercise routine before students go off to college. Their bodies will thank them.
Look Forward
It’s hard to tell a teen that this is temporary, but that’s exactly what this time is. It’s temporary, and it will pass. Consider doing something like a calendar countdown or an advent calendar until decisions are released, where they get to unwrap a piece of chocolate or something fun each Sunday until decision time. Post a calendar in a public place and each week celebrate - “Only eight weeks left until we don’t have to wonder anymore!” The important thing to remember with this is that we aren’t celebrating for good news, necessarily. We’re celebrating until we know the answer, and we have to understand that no matter what the answer is, that’s okay (because we’ve prepared for any scenario and have incredible options lined up). Understanding that this is a temporary time can help students to know this feeling isn’t a forever feeling, even if that sounds obvious.
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The important things to remember for seniors playing the waiting game is that they can’t allow the stress to take over their lives. Inevitably, they will feel anxious and like time is moving slowly, but there are so many ways to unwind and take care of themselves in the meantime.