We’re deep into the semester now: midterms are past us and we’re up to our ears in assignments. I know it’s apparently an urban college myth, but doesn’t it feel like all the hardest and backbreaking night-owl kind of assignments seem to come at the same time, as if the instructors are having some secret meetings about how to make our very busy lives even more stressful? (Just kidding, we love our instructors and are acutely aware of how hard they work, too.)
Still, despite how it feels some days, I’m sure we will get out into the big bad real world and discover that being a student was the grandest, most wonderful, least-stressful time of our lives.
And speaking of stress, I’m curious about study habits. What type of student are you? Do you leave everything completely to the last night before deadlines and then pull a caffeine-infused all-nighter, finally turning in what you at least believe is a beautiful, meticulous, well-researched piece? Maybe you’re the type that has to leap on getting things done step by step, day by day, with day timers, calendars, stopwatches, and elevator music, while still taking time for yoga and Starbucks and walks through the various dog parks. Or maybe you’re like most of the people I meet, who are a mixture of it all: trying to fit in studying, completing horrid group projects, a job on the side so you don’t have to panhandle your way to the grocery store, and—if God is good—hopefully a binge watch, coffee, or night out with friends.
The truth is this: being a student can be hard. It can also be super fun, exciting, and stimulating, opening our previously child-like minds to bigger ideas and opportunities. We may be feeling right now that we can’t make it through another month, another week, another day, even. We may wake up in the morning feeling why, God, why? We may want to retreat back into our COVID-19 caves and pull the blankets over our heads, or, better yet, stick our heads in the sand. It’s getting to the end of the semester and we’re tired, and then there’s more to come. But the fact is that we have made it this far and we have so much to do and achieve, and the world needs fresh thoughts and ideas.
So, whatever your study habits might be, embrace them, and know you are helping the world turn.