School. It can be all-consuming.

And at the time, it can seem like your life depends on it. So you spend hours upon hours each week trying to stay on top of things and get the absolute best grades you can. Because your GPA defines you, right? I think we have our society to blame for that thought process and it's an unhealthy one.

I know that I spend countless hours every week focusing all my energy on my school work because I want to be a good student. But when I hop on social media and see some of my friends went out or had a girls night together, I am crushed. And I get to thinking, was spending all that time being consumed by homework and worrying worth it? I feel like life is passing is passing me by without even giving me a second glance. It is a very unsettling feeling that I can't shake.

But how do you figure out that fine line of having a social life and mental sanity over studying all the time and getting the grades that you really want? It's a very perplexing thought to try to digest and handle. But I think it first comes from changing your mindset just enough to make things a little less challenging. Getting good grades is applaudable but so is having some fun and keeping good mental health. We need to start making the shift from having our grades consume us.

No one is perfect and we need to stop acting like we can achieve that goal. I am so tired of feeling like I am not apart of my friend groups because I keep making the excuse of classwork and studying for tests. I want to feel included again. I want to feel that short-term recklessness that you can only feel when you decide to do something a little out of the box for myself.

That is when we learn. We learn from mistakes and just living. Humans are a creature of habit and it's not until we break status quo that we really start living. We start taking in the world around us and just feel like we can breathe. I am not saying that school isn't important but it's not everything. But how are you supposed to find yourself when you are glued to your homework and downing yet another cup of coffee to pull off your millionth all-nighter of the semester?

So put the highlighter/pencil/pen down. Go have some fun that you know that you deserve.