College is fun. Sometimes. Other times, I want to run screeching into the sunset to some faraway jungle in the Amazon and never hear the words "due Monday" again. On second thought, college is like that most of the time.
Everyone has that "one semester" that makes them seriously question every decision they've ever made. The semester where it feels like every waking second is filled with the agonizing notion that you're falling behind even though you spend hours doing homework every day. The semester where it feels like your professors are placing bets on who can be responsible for your inevitable mental breakdown.
I know all of this because this semester is mine. I spend most of my waking hours in a caffeine and anxiety-fueled stupor trying to remember which way is up and if I've eaten in the last two days. If my hair wasn't dyed red, I'm sure it would be white at this point. We've all been there.
Fortunately, all is not lost, and I've managed to find ways to get brief relief from the onslaught of papers and homework and extracurricular responsibilities.
1. Find a Hobby
I know this sounds cliche, but really, find a hobby. Not just listening to music or watching TV. You've got to find something you genuinely enjoy doing that requires 100% of your attention. It also has to be completely unrelated to anything resembling schoolwork. For me, that hobby is knitting. If my attention strays, I risk ruining my project. Writing, painting, playing an instrument, even video games can give you that mental break from schoolwork to focus on something else. Being completely engrossed in a project keeps me focused on the task at hand and lets me forget that I have a paper due at 8 AM that I haven't started yet.
2. Remember Your Friends
"I don't have time for friends!" Yeah, none of us do, but we have to make time. Like a Sims character, if our social needs meter gets too low, we end up feeling lonely and isolated, which only adds to the general feeling of unwell that a semester can breed. So, take a twenty minute break from your capstone project and go grab some nuggets from McDonald's or just have a Facetime heart-to-heart with someone who understands your suffering.
3. Remember to Eat
This sounds stupid, but I can't tell you how many times I've heard "I forgot to eat today" or how often I've done it myself. You fall into bed at the end of the day and realize your stomach is slowly gnawing its way through your spine. The cafeteria is closed, you're too broke to go out, and the last time you bought groceries was when your mom visited and was appalled by the stale bag of Doritos you'd been living on. So, you go to sleep, silently praying you don't mutate into a bloodthirsty hellbeast by morning.
Make time for food! You literally need it to survive and function, and eating offers a temporary break from all that work.
4. Get Some Sleep!
We all long for naps. Sometimes the thought of reuniting with my bed is the only thing that gets me through the day.
The temptation to pull an all-nighter is definitely real, but don't succumb to the pressure. If you stay up all night, you'll want to sleep all day. If you sleep all day, you'll be up all night. It's a cruel, vicious cycle, but that's just how the body works. Make sure you get your necessary hours, and if you somehow find that you've got time for a cat nap, take it! You deserve it.
5. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff
No one is 100% all the time. This is something I've regrettably had to learn as a 3.9 honor student. Sometimes you won't get the grade you want, sometimes you'll forget all about a homework assignment. It happens to the best of us. If you can retake a test or turn in the assignment late, great. If you can't, let it go. You can't change it, so there's no need to dwell on it. It'll only upset you and distract you from the work you still have to do.
What NOT to do
1. Drink
You might think it'll take the edge off, but it won't. If you're already upset and stressed, alcohol only makes you feel worse. If you're upset, you're more likely to consume alcohol in excess, which is dangerous for your body and will leave you feeling WAY worse than you were before.
2. Procrastinate
Taking breaks are healthy. Taking week-long breaks where you have exactly an hour to finish eight assignments before Monday are not. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and can't even figure out where to start, but just dive in. I always pick the assignment I can finish the most easily, and use the satisfaction of its completion to fuel me to keep going and finish everything else. Plus, if you get everything done early, you can take naps, which are always great.
3. Give Up
You've come this far. You've already completed so much. No matter how awful it seems right now, you can and will get through this. In the end, you'll look back on these times and be proud that you suffered through the hard stuff and accomplished all your goals.
