By Elizabeth Kasper
I don”t know about you, but I think I have experienced one too many mornings this month where I”ve been running across this campus, half-starved and exhausted, rereading my seemingly endless daily task list and thinking: Do I really need this degree? Really?
College students are notorious for being stressed. Dorm scenes in movies typically depict a dirty T-shirt-clad undergraduate slumped over on a desk, eyes ringed with dark circles, surrounded by partially empty pizza boxes and books stacked on unfinished homework. Stories about “all-nighters” and cram sessions have floated down to us from movies and older siblings practically since we found out what college was.
But you know what? I don”t think those portrayals have anything over us, kids, and do you know why?
I will tell you why. It is because we, as a population, are so hard on ourselves – we have become our own worst enemies.
I know what you”re going to say. “It wasn”t me who suggested putting all my midterms in the testing center on the same day!” Or, if you”re a senior, maybe it”s, “If I slow down, will you still be nice and admit me into the graduate school of my choice?” The stress seems inescapable. It feels like the spinning wheel in the cage (or Bubble, I suppose) is turning faster and faster, and, like a tired hamster, you”re going to fly right off and land, dog-tired and over-stressed in the wood shavings next to the wheel.
But who told you that a prerequisite for “being successful in life” was getting A”s on every assignment? Who told you if your hair/shirt/makeup/smile isn”t perfect, you”ll never go on a date and be miserable forever? Who said you had to be a member of however many clubs to call yourself a winner?
I”d be willing to bet all my midterm A”s (earned through grueling hours of stress like this) and a Snickers bar or two it wasn”t your professor, it wasn”t your parents and it wasn”t your best friend. It was you.
There isn”t anything wrong with ambition and drive, friends, but when you go to bed and discover it is already time to get up again, you run out the door with your shoes on the wrong feet and you can”t even conceive the light at the end of the tunnel, you need to chill.
Easier said than done? Sure. Does everyone experience this? Absolutely. I”m positive I”m not feeling this because I”m an about-to-escape senior: I remember being a freshman and worrying, “What am I going to do with my life? What should my major be? Should I wait for that cute pre-missionary?” (I never said my thoughts were always sane.)
But is “chilling out” possible? Definitely. If you have to get out of Provo for your shoulders to relax and your breathing to return to normal, for heaven”s sake, take a drive up the canyon and get away for a few hours. If you haven”t had anything besides stale pizza for weeks, splurge at Wendy”s for a couple of 99-cent hamburgers and a side salad – or maybe two side salads. And if you can”t get rid of the dark rings beneath your eyes, put the homework down and take a nap for an hour. It”s OK. I promise you”ll still graduate, you”ll still be a good person, and your family and friends will still love you.
So as you”re running across campus this week, take a minute to slow down, let a few things slide from The List and breathe. And if you see me running, remind me of everything I just said.
