I just finished my sophomore year of college and exhausted is an understatement. I never believed people or blogs that would bring up the idea of the “sophomore slump.” I’ve been taking college courses since my junior year of high school so I thought that I would have no problem continuing my years at a university. Man, was I wrong. This semester has by far been the most trying semester yet. I was burned out on school, had no motivation to go to class or do my work, my mental health was deteriorating, and had more going on than I could handle mentally, physically, and emotionally. And my grades show that. I just have to keep telling myself that it’s not the end of the world if you fail a class and have to retake it. So now that my “semester off” is over, I’m more than determined to come back swinging. I survived the slump, and so can you.

I know college is tough. Especially if you’re working full time to pay your rent and keep your lights on. Life doesn’t stop for you just because you’re in school so things are going to come up that are going to need your attention. All you can do is roll with the punches and move on.

I really hate to be the one to break this to you, but you’re going to fail a class. Parents who are reading this, I’m sorry, but it’s going to happen. Don’t be too tough on your kids because I can almost guarantee you that feeling like we disappointed you hurts us just as much, if not more, than that failed class. We’ve got to figure this whole “being on our own” thing out, well, on our own. Yes, we still need your help sometimes, but you’re going to just have to sit back and let us make our mistakes, regroup, learn from them, and rise above it.

If you’re anything like me, this whole “actually having to study” thing is throwing you off. I was one of those kids in high school who never even had to open the book or look over the notes and would still breeze through a class like it was nothing. Now reality has set in that college is so much different and I’m having to teach myself how to study and take notes. (P.S. if you don’t already use the two notebook method, use it now!) It takes so much for me to sit down and focus to study, especially with an anxiety disorder and ADHD. There’s way too much that I feel like I need to get done to actually get anything done so eventually, I honestly just gave up.

On the bright side, that semester is over and now I’ve got a month off to reevaluate everything and come back stronger than ever for the spring semester. My point of this whole rant is that no matter how hard you hit rock bottom, it isn’t the end of the world! Take it as it comes and use it as a learning experience. Things don’t always go how you plan, no matter how many college tip blogs you have pinned on Pinterest. Life happens, and it happens to the best of us. Just go with the flow and know that you can overcome this rough patch.