Have you ever noticed that it seems like we are all in one big contest that none of us actually joined to see who is the most stressed? If you walk anywhere on a college campus it’s almost guaranteed that you will hear someone complaining about how busy they are and how much stress they have. This complaining almost always quickly turns into a competition to see who has more to do or who has the most stress. This competition became even more noticeable in the weeks leading up to finals week. I’m sure we all heard of that person that had more finals than anyone else, that person who was so stressed they forgot to eat all day, or the person that had pulled an all-nighter for the last three days. Do we really think our academic worth and success hinge on who feels the most like their world is falling apart?
I am no exception. Like most people I carry around a mental to-do list that is constantly playing in my head, reminding me of all the things I “have” to get done that day. And, like most of us, I am more than ready to unload this information on whoever is willing to listen. A friendly question of “how are you?” can quickly turn into a competition to see who can list the most things that they “have” to get done that day.
Why do we do this to ourselves and each other? Maybe it’s to show that we deserve to be in college and we are all hard workers who are doing our best. Maybe it’s because it seems like nobody else has ever experienced the amount of stress that you have and you feel that this new achieved, never before seen, level of stress should come with a reward or some sort of recognition. Maybe this is just a way for us to comfort ourselves; knowing that we have already done so much gives us an excuse to binge watch all the Netflix we want (because that’s where most of my motivation comes from).
Instead of competing to see who has more to do next time you get in a conversation about your heavy class schedule or all the projects or finals you have to do, keep in mind that we’re all in the same boat. We all have that class we struggle to get through, a test that we forgot about until the night before, an entire forty-three minute episode of Grey’s Anatomy that we think we can fit into thirty minutes (okay that might just be me). Between school, work, and social lives we are all busy people. So go ahead and complain, let that weight off of your chest, but don’t let your complaining become a competition because we can never understand the stress someone else is under.
