Drowning, Overwhelmed, Success: A College Student's Plea

Overwhelming -

A word that fits most college students

towards the end of each semester.

I feel so stressed and overwhelmed

by all the work left unfinished.

So much not started, so little time.

All this work is drowning me.

Help. Help.

Save me from this

sea of homework and assignments.

I'm crying out for help.

Will you help me?

Or just stay there and laugh?

Am I worth it?

Or too far gone?

Drowing in work.

Am I past saving?

I am drowning in my own writing.

Words sufficate me.

Hold me down.

Keep me from breathing freely.

Every breath feels forced.

Like the work is taking the life right out of me.

Reaching. Reaching.

My hands are waving all around.

The papers are swallowing me.

Covering up my hands.

I'm invisible from miles away.

Can you hear my cries?

Can you hear my screams?

I raise my head.

Wipe drool off my chin.

I slowly take in my surroundings,

catching my breathe.

I'm at my desk, my own apartment.

Papers scrattered all around me.

My laptop's battery life dying.

It was all just a scary dream.

But it felt so real.

My breath still feels hard to manage.

In, out, in, out.

Fresh air.

I am okay.

I will survive this semester.

Whish. Whish.

Two paper balls hit the bottom of the trashcan.

Why is it all so hard?

What are words?

They won't come.

This paper won't write itself.

This work is stressing me out.

I need to listen to music.

Anything to make me feel better.

Ease the constant stress I feel when I look at the piles and piles of papers sitting on my desk.

How many papers can one student have?

Hours and hours of work.

All I want is sleep.

But if I sleep, I might drown in a sea of dream papers and wake up to the real thing.

If I doze off, I will lose time to complete all this writing.

Not enough time.

Not enough time.

Only a couple weeks or days.

It may come down to hours eventually if I keep just staring at it.

Pick up the the pen, already!

Pick up the pen, any will do.

Write something.

Answer the thesis, question, or freewrite.

Do something.

Staring is getting me nothing.

Just more stress.

I've got this.

Pen to paper. Flick of the wrist. Easy movement.

I can do it.

One sentence at a time.

Keep it simple.

Make it flow.

If you understand it, keep going.

Don't stop now. Just a flick of the wrist.

Sentences turn into paragraphs which turn into pages.

Almost there. One more sentence.

I made it.

I knew I could.

One assignment down, 50 billion to go.

Keep the motivation up.

Flick of the wrist. Imagine it is a fairy wand.

Make this fun. Make it to the finish line.

I've got this. Keep going.

Every college student ever: my hand hurts. Got to keep writing. Write through the pain.