By Ty Steve, second-year student

On May 13, 1940, Winston Churchill arrived at the House of Commons for the first time as Prime Minister and gave one of his most powerful speeches in which he informed the British population that their country has one aim, which was a victory at all costs. Churchill had a colossal task of defeating Nazi German ahead of him, yet on the night of May 13th, there is a chance he spent some time painting.

Even when the stakes were high and the fate of the world depended on the actions that Churchill took as Prime Minister during 1940 and the remaining years of the war; Churchill made time for painting, which was one of his favorite hobbies and a way to escape from the mounting workload and stress.

While graduate school is not as challenging as leading war efforts in WWII, schoolwork can undoubtedly pile up or feel never-ending, and at times it may feel like you are at war with your textbooks and Microsoft Word. Just like Winston, I have relied on hobbies and maintaining a social life to help get through graduate school. It is important to be able to do something that I know will distress and reset my mind, because as much as I want to be able to work around the clock, it can be harmful to my health and also to my grades. Most graduate students, myself included, will work tirelessly to get the grades that we want. But to do that I have to set time aside in my planner for myself.

As an avid golfer, I rely on golf to give me a break when needed. So when the weather is nice on the weekend, I will take my seven iron to the driving range to get some practice. While I don’t keep all of my golf clubs with me in Harrisonburg because I don’t have time to play full rounds, it is relaxing to hit golf balls at the driving range and work on my swing. I also schedule golf tournaments to play in back home. Golf tournaments give me something to look forward to that I know will be relaxing and will reset my mind. I also have an interest in non-fiction books with a focused interest in WWII leaders and events. I am almost done with Churchill & Orwell The Fight for Freedom by Thomas Ricks, which is why Winston Churchill is on my mind daily.  While graduate school work requires a lot of reading, I recently had to read two full books; The Body Keeps the Score and Primal Leadership. Those consisted of 600 pages of reading alone, but I still set time aside to read non-fiction books because they allow me to escape back in time and forget about school work for a few hours. Reading and golf are two of my personal hobbies that I set time aside for, but I also am the event coordinator this year for the MA Biomedicine program so I try to plan events that will bring students together to relax and enjoy each others company.

Recently a group of students hiked to High Knob fire tower on a Saturday morning. This allowed students to get some exercise (many of my classmates go to the gym, but I do not partake in that pain) and social bonding at the beginning of the semester. I have planned a game night to give students a break from studying midweek and also bring us together. These events are scheduled to bring the entire class together, but many students, myself included, have smaller social support systems that we fall back on.

Due to the heavy workload, it is nice to have friends to complain to who will listen and then chime in with their own complaints. Since EMU is a smaller school than where many of us came from, and the MA in Biomedicine program is small, it is easy to make friends and build a support system. I recently lost a best friend and was fortunate to have the support of my friends and faculty to help cheer me up during this time. I helped organize a memorial golf tournament followed by a memorial service and was able to go back home to play in the tournament and attend the service all while not getting too far behind on school work. It was easier to get through this thanks to my support system within the program with other students and faculty.

While schoolwork can seem overwhelming at times, I think Winston Churchill is an excellent example of showing that there is always time for hobbies and our social life because it helps reset our minds and distress our bodies.

 

“The foundation of a hobby and new forms of interest is, therefore, a policy of first importance to a public man… The seeds must be carefully chosen; they must fall on good ground; they must be sedulously tended, … To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. ”      Winston Churchill