By February, winter can begin to feel dreary and the routine of school monotonous.  Especially after the schedule change which started February 22nd, staying awake in class, on top of due dates, and in anything but sweatshirts may seem impossible.  To help spice up this difficult time of year, I asked some fellow Air Academy students for ideas to beat the winter blues.  Even in the pre-spring rut of grey days and classroom craze, try to make the day as fun as possible with these ideas to enhance your daily routine instead of giving up perfectly good moments of your life to boredom.

1. Wear flip flops and socks to school.
2. Have dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner.
3. Make yourself a crazy morning beverage like iced passion fruit tea with mango ice cubes.
4. Buy some extra fancy, extra colorful pens to take your notes to the next level.
5. Wake up really early and talk about life over a cup of jo with a close friend before school. (You might need the caffeine later, but it’s worth it.)
6. On your way to school, imagine your car is on its way to the Arctic. That way, your slow heating system is really just an accurate representation of the harsh realities of subzero exploration.
7. Pack the fanciest lunch in the world, complete with a table cloth and doily.
8. Make up a song or rap about how boring class is. Lectures won’t be as boring if you throw down sick beats about it.
9. Say something embarrassing to a stranger. You’ll be out of here in no time anyways!
10. Take a ridiculous amount of pictures with your friends one day. Those pictures will be more valuable than you think a year from now.
11. Do your homework before dinner so that you can be a potato after dinner.
12. Have a bedtime.
13. When you’re too tired to do homework, inflate the ziplock bag your pretzels were in and use it as a pillow while simultaneously viewing the paper beneath.
14. Do yoga. Even if you can’t touch your toes.
15. Write yourself an encouraging note and hide it for later.
16. Buy fake glasses and pull the “Look, I wear glasses now!” card.
17. Buy real glasses if you always get headaches during class. You’re welcome.
18. Smother Nutella on everything you eat.
19. Find someone to high five every day. They’ll think you’re weird, but also be secretly flattered.
20. Overall, decide that before the day starts, it will be a good day. It’s important to give each one a chance, regardless of where you are or what time of the year it is.  School can be difficult, but also fun and rewarding.  You can get through this!