Dream Big or Go Home
The smell of coffee is eating the campus up, the smiles are all gone, and the campus seems to be holding its breath, finals are coming.
There are so many things we’d like to do with our days. 24 hours, a few to sleep, 10 for school, 5 for extracurricular activities, and no time for anything else. If only we had a few more hours we might be able to fix every problem this world of ours has. But we don’t have those extra hours, and the fact is if you get a few hours of sleep or any sleep you’ll be good.
Wait, what? If you get any amount of sleep you’re good? Unfortunately if you’re in WPI and reading this then you might be saying it’s true, I mean how bad is it really to not sleep for a couple of days, we‘ve all done it before. The statement makes me extremely sad because life shouldn’t/doesn’t have to be this way. It’s not the quantity of your work that matters but the quality. The more you sleep (be reasonable), the more productive and less stressed out you are.
Now I know a lot of you won’t believe me, or do but can’t help it. I understand I’ve been in your shoes and most likely will be there again, but we can try. Can’t we? Can we take just a minute to breathe, to not think about your next test or the one you just had and just breathe? You’re going to be okay, no matter how you do on your tests, no matter how you screw up and anything else you might have, you’re going to be okay. And you might say that I’ll be okay once finals are over I’ll sleep all week next week and rest, but we all know it doesn’t work that way. It’s like running a marathon, going all out, and then grabbing some water and starting another one right after. You’ll be so burned out you might get to the five mile mark and pass out. I don’t mean to scare you but we’ve all been there. I was there last B-term, A-term burned me out and halfway through B-term I just didn’t care anymore, I couldn’t.
There was an event this week on campus called Step Inside My Head, held by the Muslim Student Association and Active Minds. During the workshop we were talking about supporting each other and someone said, “I will take the time to support others, but I don’t have the time for them to support me.” And although that person was me, I feel terrible for him. Because unfortunately a lot of us feel that way, people tell me to take time off and I ask if I should get another job or something. We’re in a world if we have free time we automatically assume there’s something wrong. But in a way we need free time, a day of the week to breathe. Over the last term I’ve gone off campus every weekend, usually just Saturdays but if I have the time I’ll go for the full weekend. I’ve been all over New England, seen more of the area than I have for my past two years here, I’ve gone sailing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, zip lining, on rope courses, I’ve lived more during that one day a week than I have my entire life. Honestly that one day off is what’s keeping me in there, because with four jobs, two exec positions, and school work we tend to explode, and it’s not as awesome as it sounds.
So what am I trying to say here? Take a break? Sleep? Breathe? Yes and no. First if you don’t breathe you die, and if you die you don’t pass or get that dream job of yours, so breathe. As for sleeping there’s nothing I can say that will make you sleep, stress has a way of preventing that sometimes. Lastly taking a break during finals is not very ideal, but you can take a short break this weekend. What I advise is not to do a single thing less than what you normally do, what I’m saying is to find productive ways to do the things you already do. So instead of freaking out because you just got a call for an interview, walk into the CDC for just a couple of minutes and set up an appointment instead. Or come to a walk in hour and if you don’t have time for a full mock interview go for 15 minutes Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday from 10-4 for walk-ins. I promise you that 15 minutes you just used is way more productive than the two hours you were freaking out. If you need help with studying, time management and all that go to the ARC (Academic Resource Center). If you need help writing a paper go to the writing center. If you’re freaking out, stressing out, and it’s just too much or you just need to talk to someone go to the SDCC, they have walk in hours from 1-2 every day. OR talk to anyone you want to. Remember we’re one big community, and if Step Inside My Head proved anything it’s that we’re all willing to help each other. We’re all resources to one another, and there are so many different services offered here that are also resources to you. We should be able to sleep, eat, work, have a social life, and still do well in school. I know it seems impossible but we go to WPI we dream big and make those dreams happen. So make it happen!
Good luck with Finals,
