Well, here we are. You’ve returned back to school after a much-needed spring break, and you’re starting to get back into the swing of things. Maybe you’re looking nice and bronzed after a relaxing week on the beach in Florida or you’re burnt and bruised from an adrenaline-filled weekend on the slopes. Or maybe your body is still rejecting you because you had one too many mango mojitos on the beach in Mexico, and Spring Break was less of a recovery than it was a further depreciation of your liver. Regardless of how you spent your break, you’re back to reality now and time is suddenly flying by faster than that time you sprinted across campus when you woke up at 7:58 a.m. for your 8 a.m. calculus test freshman year (anyone else?).
If you’re a freshman, you’re probably wondering how you could possibly only have six weeks of school left, and you’re trying to figure out how nine months of your life could have possibly flown by so quickly. You can still feel the swarm of butterflies fluttering in your stomach on move-in day because wasn’t that just last week? If you’re a sophomore, you’re probably realizing that the best year of your life has just nearly passed you by, and you’re experiencing a mix of excitement and distress about these last few weeks of school. Juniors are likely concerned because six weeks from now, you’ll officially be seniors in college, which is confusing because if you’re anything like me, you still feel like you’re seventeen and should be worried about SAT scores and junior prom. And if you’re a senior... well, I won’t pretend to know how it feels to be graduating in six short weeks, but I can tell you I am definitely not excited to find out one short year from now.
Why is it that all of the sudden, as soon as you come back from Spring Break, time speeds up faster than the fast-forward filter on Snapchat, and your life simultaneously begins to slowly fall apart? Your responsibilities begin to hang over you like a dark cloud threatening to come crashing down at any moment. You suddenly realize that you have absolutely no idea what your grades are in any of your classes, and the looming end-of-the-year projects, papers, and final exams are enough to send you into a deep spiral of drip coffee and library cubicles.
But no, that’s not enough, so tack on the summer internship or post-grad job search, which has now become five times as critical as the college process and far more competitive. You’ve likely had a minimum of three identity crises, wondering what you want to do with the rest of your life, why you’re even working this hard, and will it all be worth it? But then you get a grip, get back to work, and hold on tight until the next existential crisis rolls around. On top of all of your responsibilities, which are enough to keep you glued to your computer until the end of time, the weather is starting to become too happy to sit inside all day. If you’re not napping on the lawn and basking in the sunshine, someone wants to have a party and hang out outside with friends. They say you’re supposed to balance work and play, but how is anyone really supposed to know how to do that?
If you’re experiencing any of the aforementioned stress, anxiety, or overall feelings of doom and despair, well, me too. I don't claim to have a solution, and I’m not sure that one even exists, but take comfort in the fact that there’s some solidarity around campus, even if you feel like you’re the only one who could possibly be this overwhelmed.
