This week has been especially tough for many college students across the country. I don’t even know why. It just has been. I personally feel the way static looks: a frantic blur of confusion and tension. I feel burned out, stressed out, and my brain is stuck in oh-my-gosh-I-can’t-handle-this mode.
If this is you, it’s okay to take a moment and breathe.
Our culture worships busy-ness. We feel pressure to “do hard things” and to “suck it up” when we feel overwhelmed by how much we have on our plates.
The student taking 21 credit hours plus working three jobs is a “hero,” regardless of whether or not they get any sleep, and you certainly “don’t have the right to complain” if you’re *only* taking 18 credits. And don’t you dare mention how tired you are because you only got four hours of sleep last night! Don’t you know that I only got two and a half hours!
Ladies and gentlemen, can we please stop this “my life is harder than yours” contest? Can we please all realize there’s no glory in killing yourself over your grades? It’s just homework.
It can feel very counter-cultural and even alienating to be the only one in your friend group who insists on getting eight hours of sleep every night. People may call you weak (to your face) if you decide to drop a class just because you feel overwhelmed. But this is ridiculous. Doing your best is important, but your best doesn’t mean a thing if you end up in a psychiatric hospital.
Regardless of if you're trying to get into med school or the best graduate program in the country, taking breaks are important for you to be able to stay healthy and function properly. But I don’t mean procrastinating; I mean intentionally setting aside time to take care of yourself.
Getting enough rest is absolutely crucial to your mental, emotional and physical health:
1. Mental: Your brain requires rest to function properly. This is just a biological fact. You’ve probably heard that your brain converts short term memory to long term memory during your sleep cycle; well, obviously, as far as memory goes, if you’re choosing to study instead of sleep, you’re probably not going to remember the stuff you’re studying anyways because you need sleep in order for your brain to retain information. Your brain also literally cleans toxins out of itself while you sleep. So please sleep to avoid neurodegeneration and to maximize your productivity while you're awake.
2. Emotional: Lack of rest increases stress levels. Also, it’s highly unhealthy to never take time for yourself. Take time to journal, watch your favorite TV show, chill with friends, bake your favorite kind of cookies or take a nap. These things are not actually "wasting time." They're important for your emotional health. If you don't take the necessary time to recharge, you may find yourself fighting increased anxiety and even depression. Please take time for self-care. Ignoring your needs and prioritizing your grades is not worth long-term mental health problems.
3. Physical: This one is the most obvious. If you don’t sleep, you will feel tired. This is obviously no fun, and it’s certainly not heroic. For those people who say that “sleep is for the weak,” my response is simply this: If you don’t sleep, you will be weak, because your body will hate you. So please sleep. It's important and wonderful.
Self-care is probably one of the least-discussed topics on college campuses. Most students know that “self-care is good,” but it’s definitely not encouraged in most academic circles; in fact, it's often even discouraged or swept under the rug in favor of "academic excellence." In my humble opinion, academic excellence, though good, is simply not worth your life.
Work hard and do your best, but also take care of yourself. Be intentional and know it’s okay to take time to breathe. It's okay to throw caution to the wind and go to bed early or watch an episode of "New Girl" with your friends without finishing your homework every now and then for the sake of your health and sanity. Just don't tell your professors I said so.
