Dear sh*tty semester,

You sucked and, for some reason, it seems that a lot of people tend to agree.

I don't know exactly what is was that made so many of my friends (myself included) feel this way, but it seems like everyone who I talked to had a really long, difficult semester. Was it stress, tough classes, too much work, or an overloaded schedule? It's hard to pinpoint the problem, but all that I know is that it involved a lack of sleep, lots of questioning my life choices, and maybe even a few stress tears.

Throughout the semester, I often wondered how exactly a semester of college could feel quite this difficult. After all, this is supposed to be the best, and least stressful time of my life, or so they say. But then, as finals wrapped up and things settled down, I had a little more time to think it through.

The difficult truth is that everyone, at one point or another, will have a really tough semester which makes them question what exactly they're doing in the first place. It may not have been this semester and, in some cases, it may not have happened yet at all, but stress like this in college is, unfortunately, normal and all too familiar.

Some call it a slump and I think that I would agree with that term. The worst part, however, is that when you say that college is "hard," adults seem to scoff at you. "Wait until you're in the real world, where you have to pay bills and be an adult!" In some ways, they're right. As young adults, some of us haven't faced certain challenges yet, but, on the other hand, some of us definitely have and on a daily basis, in fact.

I can say from personal experience that college is not like what it seems to be in the movies. Many people who I know are going to school full time, have a job, and are trying to juggle tons of different extracurricular activities on top of it all. Some of us pay bills and even pay our way through college.

Even worse, the workload for certain classes can sometimes be exceedingly difficult. Depending on your major, and some definitely have it worse than others, it always seems as though there's that one professor (or several) who thinks that their class is the only one that matters. Trust me, there's much more to the experience than just drinking beers with your friends and sleeping until noon every day.

So if you were feeling down and blue about your workload, don't let others make you feel worse. Your stress was totally justified and if you're taking college seriously and making the most of your experience, it's most certainly not a walk in the park. Just remember going forward that despite how important all of the work and activities may be, it's even more, important to take care of yourself. It's okay to relax once in a while, to be alone with your thoughts and feelings, and, believe it or not, to say no to a commitment or favor that someone asks of you. It may be hard to put yourself first, but it's the most important decision that you'll ever make.

In closing, sh*tty semester, I don't regret or even resent you. I can easily say good riddance, and I have because I couldn't be happier that you're over. But I'd also like to say "thank you." You toughened me up, made me think, forced me to make some difficult choices, and taught me the importance of prioritizing. You left me exhausted, but proud of myself. You may have won this time, but I promise that it won't happen again.

Sincerely,

A thankful (and tired) college student