Every once in awhile, this article gains enough traction to be shared on the Odyssey main page and consequently shows up in my timeline as I’m scrolling through Facebook. And every time this happens, I click on the article and am annoyed all over again. In this article, the author basically says that if you’re a college student, you have no right to be stressed unless you also have a job and are actively working. This article rubbed me particularly wrong today, because it hit a nerve about a topic that’s been weighing on my mind a lot lately.

It’s not up to you to decide what’s hard/difficult/stressful for somebody else. You see it all the time, particularly on social media. People are constantly putting others down, just because they can’t possibly conceive that what they view as easy might be difficult for someone else.

Just like this Twitter post:

Of course as a college student you’re going to think that your finals in high school were easy. Because comparatively, they were. But think back a couple years to when you yourself were a high school student and you were trying to maintain a perfect GPA so you could get in to your dream school or be a top contender for a high dollar scholarship. Finals then were stressful as hell.

Or when a college student posts a self-deprecating joke on Facebook about the stress they’re under and an adult comments some horribly condescending thing about how “oh if you think college is hard, just wait until you’re a real adult, sweaty :).”

It’s so easy to get into the mindset of “woe is me, my life is so hard and terrible, and anybody who isn’t experiencing my exact same circumstances has it easy and could never possibly understand.” We should all try to have a little bit more empathy for each other, and understand that what one person finds difficult or stressful, another person might find enjoyable.

For example, my cousin despises writing essays and it’s not the easiest task she has to face when assigned a paper for homework. Alternatively, I love writing essays. It’s my entire major. But the thought of studying the body and its functions and having to take the math and science classes she does for her program makes me break out in hives.

Similarly, my sister is a social butterfly and can walk into a room and command the space and leave an event with five new snapchat friends and multiple Facebook friend requests. For me, it’s taxing to keep up with the friendships I already have, let alone go up to a stranger at an event and strike up a conversation.

We all have different strengths and weaknesses and different stressors and relaxors. Nothing in this life is easy, let alone being a college student. Even if a college student doesn’t necessarily have a job, I guarantee that they have something else going on in their life other than “go to class for a part of the day, then go home and do as you please.”

A student might be an athlete or the president of a club or an unpaid tutor or a volunteer at the food bank or a musician or a writer for the Odyssey or the vice president of recruitment in a greek house. Maybe they’re living with their aging grandparents or taking care of a sibling.

Whatever the circumstance, it’s not up to you, Ms. Campbell, or me or anybody else to dictate what somebody else finds stressful. We should all try to have a bit more compassion and empathy. After all, this life is stressful enough and we shouldn’t go around actively making others feel bad because their life doesn’t add up in the equation that you’ve decided equals stressful.