Yeah. Well, I've been sick, so I don't really feel that I have the true "endofsemesteritis," but I have had it before. Do you have it? Well, it's easy to catch. The whole, "It's almost over and all I can think about is the break..." thing. Some of you are new to the program, so you've yet to learn how taking a "break" (more than a few days, I mean) from the machine is actually pretty harmful. In my "old age" in the program (yeah, I consider 3 years in the program "old age" LOL), I've started dreading our breaks in between semesters and holidays and all that. I mean, it just seems like it's the devil trying to get me to lose speed.

So I'm getting on my soapbox and saying to all my fellow students: Don't take "advantage" of the break and "rest" the ENTIRE time from your machine. Do get some extra rest that you normally can't - afterall, there's no assignments or anything during the break. But don't take too much time off from your machine. If you do, when you come back after the break, I guarantee you'll kick yourself for it. You need to keep your fingers on your machine to keep that familiarity with it going, keep your speed up and all that good stuff. I've heard, I don't know if it's exactly true, but I've heard that during time off like we're about to have that it's possible to lose an entire speed. So imagine just having passed that 40, how excited you are, then coming back from the break and being back where you started at 20. Yuck! You don't want to go through that again, do you?

So how can you keep from breaking too much from your machine? What's a good balance? Set some realistic goals. Think about it. How many days do you usually practice when you're in school? 3? 4? Well, considering you don't have homework during the break, why not set a goal of practicing for at least an hour to two hours a day for 3 or 4 days each week during the break. That's not too hard, is it? Naaa. You can do it.

Also, get together with people you like and practice. Make a day out of it. It's fun. I learned that during spring break, and I plan to try and get together again with some friends to practice again. It's not the same as being in school, but at least we've all got one common goal and we can keep each other motivated. And a fun lunch with margaritas helps to spice things up. :P

Sorry for the tangent...but I felt like I needed to get it off my chest!

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I can relate to this! I keep asking myself "What am I going to do all day?" I've planned a few things but I actually wish I could come into lab. Even for just a little while!!! I think it's just because I'm such a newbie.
Oh, I don't think it has anything to do with you being a newbie (or baby...as we call you...LOL). Honestly, I wish we had NO breaks in between semesters. Only because it sort of gives us an excuse to be lazy and not practice. Breaks are horrible for our speed and all that. The good news is that I think you are particularly self-motivated, so you will probably be able to find ways to get yourself to practice! :)

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