The end is in sight…
Finally, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. After months of classes, hours of studying, and countless nights of nearly no sleep, the semester is coming to a close. The last wave of hourly tests is finishing up and the last few home works are being assigned. Project deadlines are here. You should be finalizing your plans for the summer in the next few weeks. We are at that point now where you know that break is just around the corner, but you have no idea on how you are going to get it all finished by then.
The most important thing to remember is that this is just a small period of time. Yes I know college is important. Yes I know that we all need to do well. Just make sure that you don’t get so overloaded that you can’t function. As someone who deals with stress and anxiety very poorly, I know how hard it is to manage. I dread tests more than anything else in my life currently. I know that sounds like an exaggeration, but I honestly would rather do anything than go through the test process. However, after far too many overly stressed periods of my life, I have learned to just go in confident and not linger on things.
A certain amount of stress is good. It can motivate you to do well. When I was in a business start-up competition, we had deadlines to meet. We spent a ton of hours on the business plan and even more with research, but we balanced the stress to perform well. This is how you should apply all stress to your life.
Don’t become so overloaded that you can’t look to the future and see the big picture of what you are doing. I am going to be honest here: I do not enjoy school. I enjoy parts of it, but there is so much that I just don’t like. The thing is I know that this small section of my life is what is going to set me up to succeed in what I have planned for the future. I know that making the best of this period (the good and the bad) is what is preparing me for years down the road. You don’t have to love everything you do, but you should learn something from what you do, even if it is a moral lesson.
Lastly, be proud of what you accomplish. I am not telling you to be proud of an F, but if you honestly give your all, work your butt off, and still make a C, be okay with knowing that that was the best you could do. It the past, I have done really well in one class, and not so hot in a related class. If you have done all you could do, let that be good enough for now.
Don’t get so overwhelmed that you aren’t enjoying yourself. Summer is almost here, just keep on working.
C.Long