So we’ve had a little more than a week to get back into the swing of things at Gannon, and I cannot tell you how much I am ready for another break.
I can’t tell whether it’s because I’ve just had so many responsibilities, a lack of sleep or a combination of both, but I constantly find myself feeling the need to drink my weight in coffee or take a nap – more so than usual.
I am literally chugging coffee trying not to fall asleep while I’m writing this. It’s bad.
The sad thing is, I’m pretty sure I’m one of probably at least a hundred other students who feel this way. Whether it’s schoolwork, extracurricular activities or your personal life, this is the time of the year where people across campus start to turn into zombies – and not just for Halloween’s sake.
I’ve tried to talk to some older students to see what their opinion on the situation is, but they mostly just say that you have to get through it and come out on the other side. That makes sense because it’s what I’ve done during the past few years when I’ve felt overwhelmed, but right now it’s not very helpful.
So what can you do while you’re feeling this overwhelmed? I’ve already tried a few routes that haven’t ended so well for me.
I tried just to push through everything and drink cup after cup of coffee. This literally ended with me sitting in my room and being so twitchy I couldn’t focus on what I was supposed to do for the next 10 minutes, let alone the rest of the day.
I tried to take a few short naps in between everything so that I could at least be alert when I was trying to accomplish something and this resulted in me freaking out when everything I had to do piled up on top of itself.
I cannot win.
However, comparing the two options now, even when I do freak out about everything that has to be done, I can generally take care of everything that needs to be done despite feeling like I’m never going to be able to do it.
The problem with all of this is trying to find a happy medium in everything. I want to be able to get everything that I have to do accomplished. But at the same time, I don’t want to have to stress myself out to do everything. Also, I want to do a good job at everything, so I don’t want to just say “screw it” and do a crappy job.
So far, I have found no such medium between the two extremes.
I really hope I’m not the only one who struggles with this. I understand that I am oftentimes way more of a busy bee than anyone else on campus and that I’m a junior. Still, I cannot be the only stressed out student on a college campus.
If anyone has any sort of feasible idea of how to solve this problem, please let me and the rest of the world know, because you could probably patent it and sell it for a good amount of money.
KHADIJA DJELLOULI
