Back To School Masterpost

The summer is almost over, and most of us have to face going back to school again soon. I'm one of those people who shudders at the thought of going back there, so I decided to write about how you can try to make your high school experience a little more pleasant. I'm going into my fifth year of high school, so I have plenty experience! This might also be a handy read for people who have a tendency to get anxious, like me, as I will be addressing tips for that as well. :)

Anyways, I hope this is useful!

Let's get started!

♥ Bags!

I know we all love to shop at accessory shops like Six and Claires and you name it, but we mustn't forget the importance of having a proper, sturdy bag for school. It's why I have two! I use my black handbag from Six for lighter schooldays, when I have only three classes or so, and my Cowboysbag on days when I have to carry a lot of books. It's also a lot easier to organise your stuff in, because of the numerous (zip-)pockets. If you're not too fond of backpacks but you are looking for a proper schoolbag, a Cowboysbag is your ultimate solution. It'll cost you a little extra, but I find that this is probably something your parent(s) will be willing to invest in as well.

♥ Diary

I suppose you could consider me a lucky person because I live in a country where every city has a Hema, whereas there are only a few abroad. Hema is the best place to go to for school supplies. Quality is great and the prizes are reasonable! Plus, they do an amazing job on decorating their stuff. It's no surprise that most people have the exact same school supplies here in the Netherlands. :p When it comes to diaries I am very fond of WRITING SPACE. There are so many diaries that are just so full of pictures and glitter and fuss that you barely have any space left to write on. I need things to be clear, spacey and organised. My head's often a mess already, I don't want my diary to be that way, too. I found everything I needed in this one from Hema, which is the size of a small notebook and has rings. (I find the rings useful, because bound diaries tend to break or tear before the year is over) The pages are nice and big and have a cream-white colour. Pretty plain, with small illustrations. I added small stickers, also from Hema, for colour, but kept everything nice and neat. :)

♥ Language Notebooks

In my subject profile there are four different languages. I have the mandatory Dutch lessons, advanced English (IB Programme), French and German. For these subjects we don't have to take large notes, so I like to bring small notebooks for exercises and the whatnot. I got these cuties from Hema as well.

♥ Cultural Science Notebooks

As you may have gleaned from the fact that I take four languages (!), I have a cultural profile. This means that I take subjects like History, Geography, Art History etc. In short: Subjects that require you to take lengthy notes. I honestly love noting things down during these lessons, because they're kind of my favourite things to learn about. And now I've got these cute big notebooks to jot all the information down in! These big'uns are all from Hema.

♥ Math (Has a little panic-attack)

First for practicalities: I always buy a ringed, big notebook for math because let's face it, I write big and make looots of mistakes. This bright pink one matches the rest and is, who could have guessed, from Hema. ;)

Math is a very big stress factor for me, and has driven me into panic attacks ever since I was little. I don't know what it is about math, it's not like I've been extremely bad at it before, but it's something that makes me very nervous when I don't understand it. Panic attacks have caused my grades to slip last year so that is very high on the list of things I want to improve on. Controlling panic and taking extra classes to really understand the matter so that panic isn't needed. For those of you that have similar problems, tips for stress-relief during panic attacks or moments of anxiety are further down this post. :)

♥ Pencil Case

The best advice I could give you on school supplies is probably: Keep it minimal. Some people have pencil cases the size of a purse and they're literally jammed until they can barely close. I bought a small pencil case last year, so that I'd literally have no choice but to keep it basic. Just some pens, pencils for Art and Math, a couple of highlighters and an eraser. You really don't need more! Spare yourself the heavy weight and go for a small pencil case. ;)

♥ Tips For Anxiety or Panic Attacks in School

School is a great place for learning and friends, but also a place with a lot of people and situations you don't like to be in. Here are some tips for stress relief, calming down during a panic attack or dealing with anxiety in school.

Let music be your saviour.

As for in class: I can't speak for you, but in my school some of the teachers are not very fond of us listening to music in class because they don't want us using mobile phones in there. If this is the case for your school as well, then please remind yourself to charge and take your i-pod! They will most probably accept this, if you say it'll help you concentrate.

Make sure to put enough songs on there that you easily associate with calmness, serenity or tranquility. To block the things happening around me and be in my own bubble for a while, I really like to listen to soundtracks like the one from Pride and Prejudice. Or the songs that help me sleep at night, which is another thing:

I tend to get the most anxiety at night when I'm alone in bed; worrying about what'll happen the next day. But I am also the kind of person that really needs their sleep, so this is very antagonistic. To calm down before sleeping I find this playlist on 8tracks very useful: I Can't Sleep. I found it almost a year ago, I think, and it's still super helpful.

During a panic attack, there isn't always a friend around to calm you down. Or even a friend that knows how to calm you down. And although I think that it's important to tell at least one of your friends what you go through now and then, I feel like you should try to be self-aware of how to handle the situation. I downloaded this app called Relax Lite after seeing it in one of Zoella's videos, and it helps you calm down by guiding your breathing. It's very handy, and also easily adjustable. You basically listen to tones and look at a moving pie-chart and it all goes quite automatically after. Your brain will associate the different tones to breathing in and out and the pace at which the chart gets filled coordinates the speed at which you breathe. A very good, and free, thing to have!

♥ Elastic Bands

Let's be honest: We all secretly hate the person that asks for an elastic-band during PE. And let's be even more honest: We've all been that person. Try to avoid this situation as much as you can by bringing a handful of elastics in one of your bag's pockets. You will save yourself, as well as others, a lot of awkwardness.

♥ The Littlest First Aid Kit

Especially during, uhum, monthly unpleasantness, I like to bring paracetamols to ease the stomach aches or cramps. I used to always keep them in my bag's pockets, but that often caused them to break and turn into dust that I then had to wipe off my phone's screen all the time... So I recently came up with this: I used a very small tin, this was originally for breath-mints, and turned it into a Mini First Aid Kit. Inside it are some blister bandaids, normal bandaids, paracetamols and my hay fever pills. Doesn't it look super cute??? (Also great for helping out a friend in need! You don't always want to make the trip to your school-nurse or reception for small discomforts)

(This is getting to an end, I swear)

♥ Make-Up

Just like with your pencil case, try to keep it basic. Unless you have to go for a swim with PE that day, all you'll ever really need to touch up at school is camouflage/concealer and/or your lipstick. That is, unless you cry a lot. But I hope for your sake that you'll know how to deal with that. :p Everything else is just ballast.

♥ Cosmetics

When it comes to cosmetics try to bring as little as possible, as little as possible, if you get what I mean. It shouldn't take up too much space in your bag. I have to cycle for half an hour to get to school every day, and the Dutch weather doesn't make this very easy. It tends to storm, rain, hail, freeze and snow, all during those thirty minutes I spend on my bicycle. Just kidding, but the weather does serious damage to your hair. Especially if you have curls, like me. John Frieda's Frizz-Ease helps to tame the damage, so I like to bring that along with me.

There was this one winter (I think it was last year's?) when it got so cold out, that my hands were literally frozen. Then that first period we had to take a test, and I wasn't the only one that couldn't even move their pen across their paper! So bringing hand-cream for a little hand massage during a day like that may be a wise idea!

♥ Killing Time

A nice way to kill time during free periods, or when you've finished your work, for readers and writers might be to bring a book of poetry. I recently got this old collection of English poems from my grandpa and I can just get lost inside the pages for hours. And just between you and me: You'll look super smart while reading it, and you may just attract the right kind of people. ;) Also: These are great for inspiration or Instagram-captions, if you will. :p Obviously, bringing any book to school to kill time is a good idea. :D

Last but not least:

♥ How To Avoid Avoidable Awkward Situations

Please love yourself. Please bring a pack of tissues. You'll thank yourself later. I promise you, nothing is worse than hanging over your test paper with a runny nose and no tissues around. It would quite honestly be my personal way of describing hell. You really don't want to be the person that has to wipe their nose off on their sleeves. I cannot stress this enough.

A little less sticky and disgusting, yet equally embarrassing, is the stomach that won't shut up. Especially if your stomach likes to make LOUD and WEIRD noises like mine, lol! Always bring small, healthy snacks with you and most teachers will even let you eat them in class if you're very hungry. Just make sure to ask first, otherwise they'll get mad. ;) 

If you like to bring fruit with you, I advice putting it into one of those little thingamabobs... I don't know what they're called... Let's just say plastic box or tupperware. ;) You don't want your books to be soaking in smashed-grape juice or kiwi-goo.

And that was it!!

Wow, that was one hell of a blogpost, wasn't it? I just loooved to write it!

I hope you'll all have a great school year, and I wish you all the best of luck! Also, sending out a little extra support for those of you that are going to a different school this year. You'll be fine, just wait and see!

I love you lots, and I would love to hear from you how useful this was. :)

Goodbye!

x Eva