For many, Thanksgiving break isn’t just a time to sleep in and watch Netflix, it’s much more than that: It’s a chance to breathe before returning to the endless to-do lists and stress of the semester’s end. As the semester progresses, we tend to find ourselves slowly becoming increasingly overwhelmed with not only classes and homework, but also the clubs, jobs, friendships, relationships, and more that we have accumulated throughout the semester. We pile things on until we can’t pile them on anymore, and by the end of the semester we're left questioning how we ended up with so much on our plates, and why we even did this to ourselves in the first place. We're expected to not only maintain good grades, but we're also expected to continue developing professionally, as well as have a social life and join clubs, all while taking care of our bodies throughout the process. In the end we end up with so much to do that we don't even want to do any of it. We just want to be able to breathe again, and we’re hard on ourselves when we don’t get every aspect of our lives just right.

This is why I’m here to tell you, that as Thanksgiving break comes to an end and this stressful time commences, that you can get through the rest of the semester. Yes, this may be one of the most stressful times for you, but you’ve done it before and you can sure as heck do it again. Take it one day at a time, and don’t let yourself obsess over things that don't go your way or work out perfectly. Make a list of everything you need to do ordered by date, and take it one day at a time. Yes, it is important to care about academics and education, but don’t let yourself get so stressed about one assignment that you get discouraged when it comes to the rest, because again, despite what you may think, you can handle anything that’s thrown your way. It’s okay to take breaks and feel overwhelmed at times, but make sure to take a step back and breathe, because at the end of the day, one exam, one project, or one essay does not define you as a student, and it most definitely does not define you as a person.

Celebrate any victories that you have along the way, and don’t let schoolwork consume you completely, because although it may not seem like it right now, one bad grade isn’t going to matter five years from now. Remind yourself that once you’ve gotten through everything you need to do, you’re not only going to be able to relax, but you’ll be able to breathe again. So take a deep breath, take out that to-do list you’ve made, and say to yourself “I can do this”, because as cliché as it may sound, you can.