The approaching of the school year always fills me with anticipation of all the excitement and good to come – wandering aimlessly on the beautiful campus with friends before classes get difficult, enjoying on campus-events, and the like.

However, over the past four semesters I have been at Tufts, I have learned that there is always a point in the semester where I feel extremely burnt out and fatigued, as if I cannot think straight anymore. I guess it does not help that I have to stare at a screen constantly to do my work, and that can be a recipe for disaster, especially when I have access to so many ways to distract myself from doing my work on these screens.

That feeling of being burnt out never seems to leave me once it comes; I feel it even when I talk to my friends and peers, even when I try to do something I enjoy. I always try to shake that tiredness from my body, but it never seems to work.

Over the course of my time at Tufts, I have always tried to avoid this plateau of energy, where I just feel drained day to day. Though I have found ways to connect with friends and talk through my emotional and mental exhaustion, I also see writing as my favorite venue to vent out those feelings and express myself in this way.

I wrote this piece earlier this summer while reflecting on a lot of deep reflections I’ve had over the past two years at Tufts. I do not want to just give away the message, but I invite you to read it as you want and to be mindful of what you bring to the piece, and what you take away.

“I cannot argue
that some things
Aren’t made to last
I am made to last.

Through the weathering of my skin,
the way rain invites itself in
to run over my fingerprints
but still
the unique mark persists

Being able to be fully submerged
without needing to transform

You know
I have been so good at
breaking my own heart
so good at
talking myself out of pain
good at unfolding
thread by thread

and yet
here we are
time and time again

we are made to last.”

I enjoy sharing my poetry because it has been my go-to method to express myself for as long as I can remember. I encourage you to challenge yourself to express your thoughts and emotions in different ways than what you’re used to, even if you don’t share what you produce with anyone else!