Every semester started with exactly the same feeling: Panic.
Had I had my own copy of The Hitchhikers Guide the Galaxy, perhaps I would have remembered not to panic. Sadly, I didn't. So I did.
'How am I going to get through all this?' I'd bemoan to myself. 'It's so much work. I should just give up now. I'll never make it. All is lost.' ...thankfully, Coldplay was big then so I could at least sing along in a falsetto (starting at 3:20) when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed.
Falsetto always makes me feel better.
Somehow, after a few months, I'd find myself in the swing of things again. College wasn't that hard. In fact, aside from the few boring classes and the homework, it was fantastic!
All that to say: That feeling of panic you get right when you're starting your year? That overwhelming sense of dread that creeps up your spine looking at the tome of your Instructor's Guide? That pounding in the chest? ...yep, that's all totally normal.
I didn't know that. I thought, since as a Sonlight kid life was mostly just great books and good times, somehow this feeling of doom at the start of a non-homeschool school year had something to do with my inability to make it "in the real world."
I was wrong.
It's normal, when contemplating a year's worth of material, to feel discouraged. If you felt like you could do it all today, then it probably wouldn't be worth much. So whenever the overwhelming feeling hits you, take a breath.
Don't panic.
And if all else fails: Sing something at the top of your lungs in falsetto.
If that doesn't help, perhaps you just need to talk it out with someone in the Sonlight community or with an Advisor.
How has the start of the year been for you thus far?
~Luke Holzmann
Filmmaker, Writer, Empty Nester
[…] and your children need to do this year, just remember that the dread you're feeling is similar to the panic you had at the start of every semester in college. This is merely the common overwhelming feeling that happens when you try to wrap your head around […]
[...] am all too familiar with the feeling of panic a new school year drops on us. I realize you may be experiencing the weight of the future yourself. [...]
Glad I'm not alone and that this was encouraging <smile>. Hang in there, friends!
~Luke
I just started graduate school and the overwhelmed feeling hit me this morning. I have papers to write, we are finishing up core 2 so my daughter can start core 3 soon, and co-ops are starting soon. Not to mention planning out the new year at church with the children's committee. Looking at a year's worth of work seems so exciting and exhausting at the same time! Belting out a few tunes sounds about right for today! Someone better warn my family! Luke, your timing for this post was impeccable! Thanks!
I"m with se7en. We're around week 18 (southern hemisphere, so we school more along the calendar year than the N Hemisphere school calendar), and my oldest was actually complaining that school took him 2 hours. To do 2 days of history, a day of math, Lang Arts, Bible, and reading. Which, at the beginning of the year, would have taken him 3 hrs at least, if not more. (we alternate science and other electives).
I do get overwhelmed when I see the box and unpack it. Somehow, though, it mostly all gets done. Thanks for the reminder.
Oh I should blog this... the absolute blind terror of box day... as everyone is saying "oh look at this" "and this" and "can we start this" and "when do we do this..." and I see these huge binders that need to be sorted and more books than I could ever read... and the first few weeks when the days are just not long enough... and now how we just sailed through week 18 without break and I am looking for a few extra lessons to fill the day...I know that by the end of the year everyone will have reached their new standard and will finish school by morning tea... I will stop already!!! Thanks for the post idea!!!