I'm a college student. I work part time while taking classes.

Yes, even in the summer. I take classes and work and somehow I manage to do that. During the school year, I manage to work, be a full time student, take care of myself, and I still find time to hangout with friends. When I explain to people I have 18 credit hours, I work almost every day, somehow feed and bathe myself, all while living away from home in a tiny room and truing to maintain my sanity, they ask me the same question: How do you do it?

If I am being completely honest, I have no clue how. Of course I spread myself too thin sometimes and have a breakdown, but I manage to take care of myself and keep up my grades. I know what my goals and ambitions are, and that's part of why I do it. I need to be financially stable, get good grades for grad school, and I need to be clean. Sometimes I lack a full night of sleep, but I try my best to at least get 5 hours every night.

Not everyone is this way. We all handle stress differently. At some point, we all lack motivation. We try our hardest to be our best and sometimes that tires us out. I understand that some days it is harder than others but we all push ourselves so hard. Like I said, even I don't know what I am doing. Yes, I seem like I have it all together. People post online about amazing things happening to them and I am guilty of this as well. Let me tell you something, no one has everything in life together. I make it seem like I may have everything together, and as I have mentioned, I do not. I am constantly stressed out, I do not know how I handle half of my priorities, and I still manage to make it look okay on the outside. I know I am not the only one who does this.

If I rethink the question, how do you do it?, I can reply with some kind of substantial advice. I get it. Working, school, sleep, health, and social interaction is difficult to maintain. Sometimes we do not know how we handle it or if we are handling it. Think about it this way, in the end it will all be worth it. Think about why we are doing all of it. Why do you stay up studying to get good grades? You do it because you want to get your degrees. Why do you work while going to school? You do it because you want to get money to support yourself and become more independent. Why do you still somehow make time to shower, eat, and sleep? You do it because you know that despite the stress, you need to be a decent healthy and clean human.

It is not so much of a question of how I do it, but why. Let me tell you why, I do it because I know that in the end, it will all be worth it.