Finals season, to put it lightly, sucks. As college students, we're up all night, and all the liquid in our body is caffeinated. We tell each other that pain is temporary, that GPA is forever and that self care can wait until break--it's finally within sight. It is sometimes, the only thing that keeps us going because we forget about everything else--we're zero-inned on the grades and if we're not, then we're focused on complaining about what we have yet to do--the endless papers, projects, and studying. To be honest, we have good reason to be freaking out.

And while we have good reason, I decided to write this because I found myself so bogged down in weighing my entire semester on these last few weeks. I forgot about how lucky I am to be going to school, how blessed I am to have the friends I do, and how far I have come this semester. It's so easy to forget about the semester as a whole when your grades are counting on one test or paper or project, when these moments can make or break you. But letting myself get trapped into the cloud that hangs over college campuses this time of year isn't going to help me succeed.

Instead of stressing out when really, it's all going to get done and it's all going to turn out okay, I'm going to stop complaining. Sure, I haven't loved all of my classes and I have plenty of complaints about the exams that await and the work that seems endless, but instead of using the end of my semester right before I leave my home at school for eight months, I want to use it to be grateful and proud of what I have done. Just look at how much you have accomplished this semester. You went to class, you made that friend, you joined that org, you served others. You spent this semester doing something. You made an impact, even if it was small, even if it was too tiny for anyone to acknowledge. Be proud of yourself for making it this far, and try not to make that dark cloud any more daunting.

Count your blessings, make those last moments with you family on campus matter, laugh a lot, and get your work done.

"I'm going to succeed because I'm crazy enough to think I can."