As we all know, finals week is the worst week of any semester. Between my upcoming deadlines and exams, I was taking advantage of any spare moment to catch up on my sleep. I was defeated, mentally exhausted, and beginning to get sick. With all the built-up stress, I felt like I was going insane.

After an unsuccessful attempt at my Stats homework due the next day, I was on my way back to my room when I heard yelling and laughter coming from outside the dorm. I looked out the window and immediately realized I had forgotten about my friend's text from earlier! She had suggested taking advantage of the first snowfall of the year and having a snowball fight outside our dorm, but everyone in the groupchat seemed uninterested and too busy.

I thought to myself, "Do I have time for this? No. Do I have the energy for this? Probably not." Even though it was already 10:30 PM, I had two finals the next day that I had not even begun to study for, and had only finished part of my Stats assignment, I decided to go outside anyway. When I got outside, there was way more than the 9 people who initially were invited. There was close to FORTY people outside wailing snowballs, tackling one another, and sled riding down the hill by the tennis courts.

No one was safe from getting hit. We all teamed up and chased Maria as she sped away. While Kendall was getting pelted, others like Mike were hiding on the hill sniping others as they ran past. Greg was enjoying the taste of the snow by choice, but I "enjoyed" the taste of snow as I face planted after Will tackled me and Albert fell on top of us. Everywhere you looked, battles were going on, and so many of the guys were on the ground wrestling. At one point, I saw a black cloak fly down the hill on a sled and realized it was one of the monks; everyone was in on the fun!

The next morning, the ferocity and size of the battle was revealed. When looking out my window, there were snowless patches of land behind the dorm. Most of the field had been cleared of snow. I had not realized it at the time as we had continuously migrated to snowier sections of the field, but the view from my bedroom provided a nice reminder of the previous night.

During times like finals week, so many of us get caught up in just trying to get through the week. We simply bear the negative parts of it and don't find joy in the little things. While preoccupied with so many things, we often forget about the benefits of destressing and having good, old-fashioned fun. Even though I had so much to do, it was more beneficial to have one last fun memory with my friends before separating for a month over winter break. This was the perfect end to a semester, and I'm already looking forward to the Gerry Snowball Fight 2k17.