AH! FINALS WEEK! AM I RIGHT?

Am I?

Let me ask you one question: do you think of these last few weeks of classes as a finalization or a culmination of the semester's experiences?

In my mind, I think there is a profound difference between the two. If you are looking and waiting for that moment when you hand in your last exam, print out your last paper, or conclude your last presentation, the time will be slower than a melancholy sloth. If you take the chance to use these last days as a way to show off the skills you have developed, you can create several products not only to be proud of but to learn something else from, like a less slow sloth crossing the finish line.

For example, I am taking an Asian Religions course and during the semester we were required to read several texts from different religions the originated around that area of the world. The third one we read was the Taoist text, "Tao Te Ching," and - I must say - it was an incredible experience reading these separated chapters that provide insight not only into my daily life, but also into the natures of the earth that are more powerful than I had thought before.

What I am trying to get at is that the time I have spent being thoughtful about these texts as well as nearly everything else has given me a stronger thirst for knowledge and connection with others that I have not felt since my early high school days. This thought process has led to drastically low levels of stress.

Of course, I will say that many many people have more work right now than I do and may have more riding on their success (i.e. capstones, job searching, etc.). However, I do believe everyone and anyone can take the following message to heart: immediately associating work with stress is a guaranteed poor experience. Be open to see if the assignment is either within or beyond your capabilities. If it is beyond, find the help needed to reign it all in.

Basically, please don't go through your college experience like this:

The reason I wanted to write this message is because I have been seeing the concept of stress as expected and almost encouraged. It has been bothering me because beyond the thoughts of our current minds there are ideas that may just be the stepping stone we need to excel. When we focus on the negative aspects of our daily lives, we can close ourselves off to the possibilities of absolutely beautiful moments, interactions, observations, and insights that could alter our perspectives of what is truly wonderful about our short lives.

This article is not me scolding the downtrodden. We all have baggage (see what I did there?). I wanted to write this as a message of encouragement to all not just for these last few weeks of the school year, but also for any tough experience one may come across down the road.

Good luck friends!