It's October! Happy Fall AOC!
Pumpkin spice lattes, late nights and college applications / SATs have faded in to replace the mild stress of summer COC classes. Between the chaos of the busy, pre-holiday season, and school work, it's sometimes it hard to take a minute to breathe -- especially if you're already half asleep. Here's our fall survive guide. 

1. Prioritize your work 
If you have a project due tomorrow, is studying for an SAT in a month going to be realistic? Try to do work with the first upcoming due dates sooner rather than later.  

2. Set Reminders on Your Phone
Sleeping in the dark hours of the early am and being functional by 7:45 is difficult. While its a challenge to sleep, setting reminders on your phone can help remind you to sleep on time. 

3. Make time to Relax 
It may sound weird, but scheduling time to relax and unwind not only guarantees a time to de stress but also gives you something to look forward after doing your work :).

Hey AOC! This week SEL wanted to reflect on self-care. 

It's easy to get caught up in our school work, staying up late to finish a paper for COC or a project for an AOC class. Academics are always a clear priority at AOC but at what point do we need to prioritize our health? How do our paradigms of self care affect how we act on it? 

Google, Instagram and Twitter threads seem to sometimes have answers. But nothing concrete.
According to Oxford dictionaries, its "preserving or improving one's health." Tbh -- an unsatisfying response.  What did it mean to 
We wanted to know what it meant to our school community so we 

"For me, self care means taking time for myself to recover from the week. It's a healing time! I like to play instruments, write in my journal, listen to music and improv dance :)" 
- Willa

"Self care is about balance. What constitutes balance for you is different for me.  Are you spending enough time with family? Are your intellectual needs being met? Are you physically active enough?" 
- Malko

"Self care to me means putting your personal well-being before others. Being reasonably selfish is vital in order to take care and love the beautiful human you are!" 
- Joelle Min

"Being able to prioritize my needs for my well being and understanding my goals. Also not overworking myself"
- Kat

"Self care means not caring about others, jk, it's making sure your body grows as well as your mind" 
- Mark

"Self care to me is eating without feeling guilty :)" 
- Matthew 

"Self care to me means putting your physical, mental, and emotional health as a priority :)"
- Grace