By the time this article is published, it will be finals week here at the college, so I thought I would write a small poem to share how I feel right now.

I never knew, before today,

that a single human being

could consume so much caffeine.

It's an unfortunate byproduct

of staying up late the night before

in order to finish that one important paper

due first thing in the morning.

My rough draft was written

in a hazy ramble of sleep deprivation,

full of intelligent content,

but worded like a drunken rant,

and peppered with cursing.

It was more entertaining to read, in my opinion,

than the actual paper ended up being.

My preferred state of being

is that moment right before you fall asleep,

when essays are forgotten,

and your bed is warm and comfortable,

and morning seems so far away

as to be a sort of fairy tale

you never asked to be a part of.

The important thing to remember,

in this time of anxiety and turmoil

and a whirlwind of deadlines and cumulative exams,

is to breathe.

To rest.

To take time for yourself

without academic distraction.

By all means, study,

and bury your head in textbook for awhile.

But in order to survive,

you must remember

to rest.

To breath.

You can do this.

I promise.

One more week to go.

Happy Finals Week. Good luck.