Dear Dr. Alfiee,

I’m not adjusting well to the new school situation. I miss my friends and teachers, and my extracurriculars aren’t the same anymore. I have zero motivation to do any schoolwork let alone sit on Zoom for 7 hours.
Do you have any tips on how to combat these feelings?

With Love,
A Struggling Student

Dear Struggling Student,

Remember going into this school year that this year will be VERY DIFFERENT from probably anything you have ever experienced and sometimes a little HARD to HANDLE.

Feeling overwhelmed is totally normal. I want you to remember that even by asking this question, you are showing that you care and that makes a huge difference, because if you can name a problem, you show at least some motivation to work on it.

Going into this new school year, I want you to acknowledge that you have at least one of these things going for you:

• Recognizing that there is something to be concerned about
• Strong work ethic
• Loving family
• Support from your family
• A social network (peers, faith community, club, etc.)
  

What you will need to help you get through this year is a few things:

•Remembering how strong you are
•Active Coping Skills
•A daily schedule that you can stick too
•An outlet to relieve your stress (Pick something that works for you – exercise, meditation, reading, mindfulness coloring book, etc.)
•Recognition that you don’t have to do this alone.

If you can take this one day at a time and use active coping by finding activities that will help you reduce stress (like these activities from the AAKOMA Project website), you can get through this year successfully. Remember, I am rooting for you to succeed.

With Love,
Dr. Alfiee Breland- Noble