President's Perch

MOTIVATION. Whatever it means, it’s a challenge to find sometimes, especially recently—like when I sat down to write this article (sorry Hugo).

Should I complain in place of writing a worthy President’s Perch? Or should I ignore my unmotivation, accept it as a part of my all-consuming “senioritis”, and begrudgingly write without complaint? Or should I address it before it affects me and potentially becomes a detriment to what I want to do, and need to do? And that’s what happens with chronic unmotivation—and it can even affect others beyond yourself depending on what you need to motivate yourself to do (again, sorry Hugo).

This little dilemma of mine is an example of the larger struggle we all may face as we go about doing anything. Motivation is often invisible, like when we get in the zone, do what we want —rest, eat, play video games, our favorite pastimes. But motivation is a necessity and an effort for so much else, and in the worst of moments, for everything.

Right now, we’re in a strange part of the year, not quite at the end, but so close it may feel hard to go on. Why can’t it just be over? I think that’s a sentiment most of us share as we approach spring and a possible lull—and hopefully end—to this pandemic. We’re in a limbo, past the first semester—and first two trimesters for you middle schoolers—but there are still three months ahead of us with a lot left to do. Likewise, we are past the worst of the Omicron case spike, and it feels like we’re so close to normality after the CDC released new mask recommendations—and yet, we aren’t quite there yet.

The dual angst and adriftness created by these times tend to drive unmotivation. And unfortunately, I don’t have the answers—especially not for some easy fix. It’s different for each of us, and we know our ways of motivation best. But I do know that now, more than ever, I encourage whoever needs to hear this to find ways to keep going, to remind yourself of why you do what you do, to reflect and take action however best you can.

For instance, I’m writing this for several reasons, some immediate and extrinsic, some not; appeasing Hugo and the editing staff so this issue gets published is one, but another is to try and put down some semi-meaningful, reflective thoughts on a page that may just resonate with a member of the student body I’m president of.

What’s another example of a thing that could have several reasons to motivate someone to do it? Attending the Abbey Invitational coming up later this week as of writing this! Not only could you potentially hang out with friends and fellow Abbey brethren, but you could also do it while watching hype basketball games, cheering on your school, and eating fantastic meals. Or donating to the upcoming Penny Wars! Sabotage other houses, get rid of otherwise useless coins, and contribute to a worthy cause put together by Walter Heiser and Ben Schwartz.

If you think about it, you can find so many reasons to do anything if you really try. (It doesn’t only apply to these fantastic upcoming school developments I not-so-subtly just advertised!)

But the choice is yours whether it’s worth following those reasons to action.

- JPT