A Silver Lining for a Second Semester

By Ian K.

We all know that feeling—the feeling of one semester finally wrapped up only to be met by another semester—and a fresh 18 weeks of work staring back at us from behind our screens. The novelty of our new classes has waned away, and the excitement of a new school year is all but depleted. We are left with what most of us would call a “new semester slump.” The holidays are gone, and spring break is still so far. If this sounds like something that is running through your mind, fear not, for we are about to find a silver lining in our new set of clouds.

When asked about how they were feeling coming into this new semester, many students related to this discouragement. One of the seniors, Rhianna, said, “I'm starting to feel the slog of just finishing work. It's not as bad as previous years because I know that as soon as I finish this year I'm done for the foreseeable future, but it's still there.” Kate, too, echoed this sentiment when she said, “I've been needing to really search deep within myself for the motivation to keep going and finish. One thing I've been doing is looking at some of the things I'll be able to do or try once I'm done with high school/starting college, since I know that I can only do those really fun things if I keep going.”

For many, including myself, the slump that we experience when starting a new semester can get the better of us. We might feel like the end is so far and that this new semester presents a renewal of the challenges we just conquered. However, even though these new challenges might form a cloud over the next 18 weeks, the silver lining is never far behind. Katelyn found her silver lining when she said, “I'm doing great. The second semester is always my favorite, because you don't have that stress to "finish before Christmas". [I am] very excited to be closer to summer…” We might feel like we are starting all over again with this new semester, but in reality, we are closer than ever before to summer. We are also closer than before to having another year done and dusted, yet this time, we have the experience from the first semester under our belt to help us tackle the second semester’s challenges.

So, having the perspective that this new semester brings us closer than ever to the things we look forward to, what is our silver lining? What is it that we will hold on to when the challenges of school present themselves? One might say that anything in this new semester is something we have already seen—we know the ins and outs of the courses. Any challenge now is coming to us a second time around, which is never as hard as the first time. Week by week, we close in on the freedom of summer that we so look forward to. Many of us are nearing our transition to university, which can be an incredibly exciting time! Any way you spin it, you can find a silver lining in the clouds—all you need to do is look up.

I heard a quote recently that contributed greatly to my mindset of positivity: “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” This quote is precisely what I want to focus on as we look ahead to this second semester. Are we lamenting that we have yet another semester to endure, or are we rejoicing that we are this much closer to the break we desire? Our “rose bush” does not change either way we look at it, because the semester persists regardless. However, we are presented every day with a choice to be either thankful for the roses or frustrated at the thorns. In this new semester, we all have something to look forward to, whether that be summer, college, or simply another year done. As we dive back into work, I want you to ask yourself: “Where are my roses?”

Ian K. lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, but previously lived overseas as a missionary in Kenya and Uganda for eight years. He has attended NSA for four years and is currently in his senior year of high school. Ian has a passion for aviation and ministry, having grown up with this environment most of his life. He desires to pursue missionary aviation overseas, using the newspaper as a training field in preparation for reaching people during his future ministry.

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