Monday to Friday. Nine periods a day. Seven hours per day. Thirty-five hours per week. Weekend for  two days. Then repeat. This formula is bound to get stale over time. That’s why the school has to include days off in between and vacations throughout. But for stretches during the school year, it seems like a marathon that you want to stop running.

Everyone has those weeks where you already want it to be Friday when it’s only Monday. The week drags along, especially if you’re getting less than seven hours of sleep. At times, you question, “Is this really what life is about?” Well, no, it’s not. School is meant to teach you the academics for college and to become a productive member of society. But by no means is sitting in a desk all day living life.

This is why your weekend is so important. Yes, you may have a game or practice for your sports team or a family obligation, but the time is yours and it should be cherished. Just think to yourself: where can I go to forget about school and all of my stresses?

Among our staff, we have our own escapes from daily life. Fishing – experiencing nature and going to different lakes to change up the scenery. Music concerts – different genres and new venues to check out. Chicago – spending time in the Ukrainian Village, just hanging out with a different community.

Notice the theme here? All these places are away from home and away from school. Going places forces you out of a monotonous lifestyle. You see different people, ideas, and things happening. And it’s not just variety you’re getting; you’re also creating a new community for yourself.

Hang out with your friends on Friday, but try planning something special for Saturday. Do something new, drive somewhere, go out of the house. Don’t just sit in your house and go on Facebook or play videogames when you have time to spare. And if you have friends from other schools or who are a part of an ethnic community, find out what they’re doing. It’s boring to hang out with the same people from the same school and do the same things all the time.

Do your homework Sunday morning, and then proceed to maximize your weekend. Obviously, if you are busy you may have had to spread out your work on Saturday or even Friday, but there should be at least one day during the week where you don’t think about school. Saturday is ideal for that scenario.

Now if you actually happen to follow this advice or have already done this, see how the rest of your week goes. You won’t mind sitting through class so much now that you got the most out of your weekend. That looming Friday will seem exciting to reach, but not something you wait for impatiently just to escape the classroom. You got away this weekend; you enjoyed your time away. Now it’s time to buckle down and learn.