Encouraging Your Student to Stay Motivated
It鈥檚 crunch time here at Tech and at campuses all around. Finals week is quickly approaching, which means students may find themselves in a bit of a slump as they try to find the motivation to finish out this semester. As a parent, you may feel obligated to help and assist your student as much as you can, but with physical distance between you, that may come as a struggle. There are still some ways to motivate and encourage your student from a distance. Some simple words of affirmation, encouragement and little reminders can go a long way.
Simple Stress Relief. Start by doing the simple reminders for your student: add in some exercise to your daily routine, go outside for a few minutes, eat a healthy meal, get enough sleep, do something that makes you happy. All these things may seem self-explanatory or repetitive to remind them of, but students can easily get lost and caught up in the hustle of completing projects, papers, assignments, and exams that they can very easily forget about the little things that they can do to take care of themselves. A note of caution: pay attention to how often you are sending them reminders. While your intentions may be from a good and loving place, sending them too many reminders may come across that you are nagging them or thinking they can鈥檛 handle it on their own, which can cause them to become more stressed and annoyed.
Remind them it is also okay to do nothing. Down time can be good in moderation. If they want to get comfy on the couch, watch their favorite movie, eat a comfort snack and do a little self-care, then that is completely okay. Everyone needs a break every now and then. As long as they are able to jump back into the swing of studying and working after they take a quick 鈥渢ime out,鈥� then some downtime can provide a ton of benefit.
Help Them Rediscover their 鈥淲hy.鈥� Remind your student why they are here at Tech. Students can get burnt out, exhausted and unmotivated to go forward (especially toward the end of the semester). They tend to lose their meaning of purpose and reasoning behind the coursework. Talk to your student about why they are taking these classes and remind them what their long-term goals are. Talk to them about what they want out of their future career and how the coursework right now is helping them build a strong foundation to start off strong in their field of choice. Help them rediscover their 鈥渨hy.鈥�
Consider Short-Term Goals. Aside from reminding them of their long-term goals, also discuss how short-term goals can provide benefit, as well. It can be something as simple as instead of thinking 鈥淚 have to pass this semester鈥�, try and have them think 鈥淚 need to make a good grade on this paper,鈥� 鈥淚 need to pass this exam,鈥� or 鈥淚 need to finish this project.鈥� Encouraging your student to set smaller, short-term goals will allow them to feel a sense of accomplishment more frequently. Instead of only being proud of themselves at the very end of the semester, they should be proud of themselves with every milestone completed, every bridge crossed and every assignment checked off of their to-do list.
Words of Affirmation. Last but certainly not least, the most important and arguably the easiest way that
you can help your student stay motivated is to tell them you鈥檙e proud of them. Tell
them that they are doing a good job, that they can finish off strong and make the
grades that they need or want. Words of affirmation can go a long way. Even if you
think it goes without being said, it鈥檚 always nice to hear. Chances are your student
will appreciate hearing you say it, and it is likely what they need the most.
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