The college years are arguably the best years of your life, even though it comes at the expense of quite possibly being the busiest time of your life. Between 9 a.m.'s, science labs, papers, and group projects, it can feel as if there is little time to breathe . . . and then come the 8 p.m. club meetings, the article deadlines, radio shows, and out-of-the-classroom class commitments. But wait, there's more; On top of everything else are the two most stressful times of the semester, midterms and finals week.

It's easy to see why a lot of college students pull all-nighters, and burn through their days surviving off of five macchiatos with an extra shot — not that I'm guilty of this. But in the end, this is how we find ourselves. This is how we push our limits and how we realize what our time is really worth. Through cramming for exams and still trying to make the meetings, a passion for what we love burns within all of us college kids, all the while weeding out the things that we don't have quite as bright of a fire for. These late nights of studying and busy days of questioning why we even came to college in the first place, in my opinion, are what makes every struggle worth it.

I am a firm believer that if something is worth it in the end, then it will probably require an obscene amount of work to achieve it. Getting my degree, and still loving all of the extra-curricular activities that I am involved in, has really shown me who I am as a person. I have begun to find myself in ways that I didn't know exist, and I have found friends that I didn't think would ever be my friends in the first place.

By being busy in college, especially this semester, I have learned how to make time for myself because I know that if I don't tomorrow is going to seem even more stressful than before. Being busy has a way of bringing out the best and the worst in all of us, but during college I think that a lot of us find that best parts of ourselves, and they really start to shine through. For example, I have reignited my love for running; Every day I'm going from building to building and class after class I am always running somewhere, and running late — just kidding, but I do know the feeling of running around campus all day.

Even though midterms are coming up these next couple of weeks, just remember that it will all be worth it because you'll figure out who you are, and what you love through being busy. You'll learn how to weed through the things that you like versus the things that you love, and you'll learn how to cope with some of the hardest days of your life. All of these things will build you into the person that you are striving to be, even if it doesn't seem like it now. Remember that your mental well-being is more important than anything you'll do in college, and it is okay to sit down for an evening and just take some time for yourself.

As for me, I have found the things that I love doing during the time I have spent in college, and currently I am sitting with my best friend, talking about nothing, and eating ham sandwiches — what could be better than finding something like this.