It’s 5 a.m. and you are tossing and turning, not able to shut off your brain thinking about all the stuff you have to get done before the semester’s end. The next day hits and suddenly you are slumped onto your twin sized bed against a cold wall, scribbling down the next discussion post due in exactly an hour. Your posture speaks wonders of being done with the pointless discussions as you sit seized up resembling the letter “C.”

It is that time of year again; the stressful time of year. Schedules are rearranged, classes seem longer and almost every student debates quitting and selling themselves on the corners of Main Street. It is an interesting time of year as we try to think of the do’s and don’ts in ways to turn the stress into motivation.

The semester is almost over and all we can think of is the long anticipated winter break. How will we get through the next weeks surviving classes? We de-stress. In college, many might think of doing this by drinking; especially in Brookings. The sad walk of shames disappear from Hobo Day and Halloween and push students to face the harsh face of reality. The appearance of the realistic surface of school after the midterm week is stressful on its own. The demanding instructions we are forced to follow are seeping into our daily agendas; it can be too drowning.

College students think of dropping out every day. Maybe your school agendas don’t fit your dreams of being beer pong champion or the demanding written assignments about words that Google doesn’t understand are 4 pages too long. Maybe your quizzes aren’t showing up on Google anymore. Maybe your anxiety stems from the fact that you buy books for class that you don’t even open. Maybe the weight of your backpack is too much to have your zombie like walk carry around campus. Stress is trauma during this time of the semester and a constant cloud over our heads.

How do you “de-stress?” Do you sit in The Union and watch the eerie walks of the hung-over? Do you play musical chairs with the vacuum people in The Union? Maybe you hop from chair to chair every five minutes avoiding turning blind, depending on where the sun shines. Maybe you get your exercise in by sprinting through Main Street of The Union during lunch hour and dodging every booth fundraising for something.

Your bed is unmade, your hair is unwashed, and you’re living off of Mac ‘n Cheese; the microwavable kind. Every grade has a slump; freshmen 15, Sophomore 30 and so on… but in reality, it wasn’t that bad and neither is this stressful schooling you are currently trying to survive. Every year might be more difficult because the words become more advanced and the rewards are greater but it all screams adulthood.

Be skeptical; it just means you are paying attention. Question your parents, professors and your homework because it isn’t a bad thing. School isn’t the most challenging thing we will face and neither is that jet pack vacuum we avoid in The Union. So don’t quit on school. Soak in the stress, drink some caffeine and relax. The semester is almost over.

Brianna is an early childhood education major. She can be reached at [email protected].