Boy oh boy, back again? So soon? We had four months of agonizing stress and anxiety only to be rewarded with a ratio of one month's rest per four months of stolen sleep. For most of us, that month of rest was actually a month of work, trying to alleviate the costs of living away from home as best we can. So now we get to return from work to school, and I'm not sure which one keeps me more on edge.

Oh, the tortures of being a student that takes his/her studies seriously... It leaves little time for relaxation or recuperation. My first semester revealed that much to me. But does it have to be this way? In order to get the best out of my studies and keep my grades up, do I have to sacrifice the very definition of living, or must I solely eat, breathe, and sacrifice sleep my course load? Education is so important and is so costly that I have this feeling of guilt in my gut if I'm away from my notes for too long.

Maybe, just maybe, my first semester I had it wrong. Maybe studies aren't the only (though they are the most) important part of the college experience. I know for a fact that many students have a tunnel-vision perception of higher education as I have had, but honestly it can't be healthy. As humans, we have to account for rest for both our minds and our bodies from time to time. Also, we have to make sure that we have... and this is for our own good, people... FUN. Repeatedly going over notes for hours on end, leaving sleep for the rest of the world to enjoy, and always waiting until after the next exam to breathe or until that grade comes out to take a nap, all of it adds up.

All I'm saying is, education does not mean sacrificing living. At least I hope not. I have several more semesters of this, and I cannot begin to fathom the zombie like state I would eventually succumb to in the future should leave out some of the fantastic memory making opportunities college has to offer. I hope that someone reads this and realizes the same. It's all about balance people, and it's not just balancing school and making money. If that's all we had, what would we have to live for?