Crash and Burn

In a conversation I had with a fellow musician and friend of mine, while surrendering to wallowing self-pity involving an overabundance of school work, a job and trying to keep up a social life, questions began to arise. Is all the craziness of school is a legitimate reason to lose our minds and patience? I know college isn’t meant to be a cake walk, let alone instill the energy into us to prance like happy, fuzzy, majestic unicorns to class pre-determined to dominate anything thrown at us. A part of me feels the expectations that are bestowed upon us as humans and still doing our best as students is a bit unrealistic. We should be used to the chaos by now you would think; Senior, junior or freshman, we all struggle immensely. I have half a splinter of hope we will all survive! But boy are we digging deep for that determination.

Mid terms are over for most part, but in the process of pouring our faces, time and souls into studying material, we put the rest of our work on the back burners. Leaving the front burners for those 200-plus point assignments, speeches, exams or whatever you’re assigned in a day’s time. Don’t forget to leave that coffee maker warmer on at all times of the day for those 2 a.m. assignments that inflict zombie-like tendencies which usually carry into class the next morning.

Living the life of a college kid makes me miss legos, paper projects that took a whole afternoon and play time. As many have said, “being a kid, the hardest thing to do was to pick the perfect color crayon,” which many chose to draw outside of the lines with. I can’t even begin to fathom what the professors go through! Above all things, I miss about not being in college is nap time. It should be a sanity requirement with at least an hour a day to keep students and faculty happy and would be up to par health-wise with free coffee! It can save lives and faces from being ripped off!
We have lives outside of the classroom, just like teachers do. How can we be expected to do all of these things with minimal time, jobs, marching band, sports, clubs, assignments, exams and groups? Is a majority of the student body missing out on the “college experience?” Aren’t we supposed to be having fun and experiencing life? There seems to be no break in sight, even for teachers! Thanksgiving you say? Pfft. While visiting our families and indulging in Charlie Brown Thanksgiving episodes, pie and turkey, I bet we will all still be nailed with assignments to accomplish and grade in a timely fashion of good quality.

If I may say so in speaking for the student body and faculty, we’re burnt out, running on empty and need a break. In all the chaos it’s even hard to remember how to breathe and sit down for a minute. I know many feel the same and if not, you’re one lucky, fuzzy unicorn.

Suzy is a junior majoring in journalism.