Oh, the joy of the second semester of the academic year. After nearly a month of waiting, planning and worrying, I will be heading back to Clarion to continue my third year's adventure.

I stumbled into the early months of 2017 with plans, and the biggest of those is my schooling. This semester I will begin my special education field experience. That is the biggest thing that worries me about this next 15-week stint. For a small portion of time, I am at the university learning more about special education, and then I am out in the field. Well, I hope I am. In order for me to go out in the field, I can't get anything lower than a certain percentage to actually go out in the field. Here is the problem: I am notoriously worse in the spring than I am the fall. My GPA in the fall hovers around 3.6-3.8. However, in the spring it can drop to just above a 3.0.

What does this mean? Well, I sliced my absolutely crazy schedule from the fall and practically cut it in half. No longer taking on 8 extracurricular activities, I should have ample amount of time to focus on reading, studying and passing my classes. On top of that, I am incorporating in some stress management tactics, like singing and working out more to keep me sharp and fresh.

This is unusual for me because I just shoulder all the responsibilities that need to be filled, and I just go from there. However, that causes more harm than good to me. In response to that, I'm actually learning that saying the word no may suck in the present, but will be much better in the future.

I hate saying good-bye to some of the groups and organizations I have been apart of, and I really dislike stepping down from some leadership roles in others, but I can honestly say that it is for the best.

I can see now that Superman is a comic book hero for a reason, and that spring cleaning is a really helpful thing.

I am wrestling with less responsibility this coming semester, and I can safely say that I feel more prepared for the spring than ever before.

Best wishes to everyone as they finish whatever academic year they are completing, and never forget that the best of you can only be the best if you don't over do it.