All of the college movies I have ever seen are lies. The movies showed freedom and exciting new adventures with the struggle of finding love or proving themselves to someone. Don’t get me wrong, college is amazing. You do have the freedom and exciting new adventures. However, what movies struggle to depict is the stress, the essays, the exams, that inundates a student’s life. There might be a line here and there that shows a student has homework. There may be fleeting scenes where a student is stressed out and pulls an all-nighter. However, it rarely shows the gravity of a typical college student’s struggles. To clearly do so, half of the movie would have to be in the library showing students, some crying, with multiple thoughts of dropping out, papers everywhere and stacks of empty coffee cups.

Before college I heard that if sleep, social life, and academics are on the points of a triangle, most of the time, a student will fail to balance the three points to create an equilateral triangle. It is more common to see a student failing to put effort into a specific point. When I heard this, I scoffed and said I could handle it – but boy I was wrong. Trying to motivate oneself to go to the library to study everyday instead of going out to lunch with friends is a constant struggle. With assignments due far in the future makes it easier to push it aside and ignore it. When the midterms and finals creep up like ominous storm clouds, it honestly makes life hard and suffocating.

However, something I realize was that everyone is going through the same thing. We all are stressed and have a lot on our plates. There are different issues everyone may face, but we all have a lot to deal with. We are all in this together. If you are stressed out studying for an exam, just take a deep breath. Go and talk to your friend over a nice cup of coffee. If your mind is at ease, it will be easier to concentrate and work harder. Don’t be afraid to turn to one another to ask for help. College is, I hear, the best four years of our lives. The work load, projects, and stress is hard to deal with; however, the friendships and memories that are made are that much more awarding. The laughs you have with your friends whispering a funny story over the quiet library table or the deep, honest conversations you have at 4am after a break down are the memories you cherish and carry with you out of college. So yes, college is hard. College will make you question everything. However, college is fun. College is where you meet your lifetime friends. So take a deep breath, think happy thoughts, and get to work. You got this.