Overwhelmed

Alicia Burrows, Opinion Editor

I always thought that second semester senior year would be my most chill semester at Assumption. However, I am only two weeks in and I can already tell that will not be the case. With a 200 hour internship, 3 other classes (one of them being Physiology, which I have been warned will be the hardest class I ever take), a thesis to finish, grad schools (and scholarships) to apply to, a weekend job, rehearsals for Godspell, being Assistant EIC of the Provoc, trying to go to the gym so I don’t fail on my New Year’s resolutions and just trying to find time to cook dinner, I am OVERWHELMED.

I have always been someone who does well with a busy schedule. America may run on Dunkin, but Alicia runs on Stress. When I don’t have a full schedule, I just procrastinate and don’t get anything done. But when I’m busy, I find it easier to manage my time and force myself to get work done. However, sometimes I forget where the line is between being a healthy level of busy and being so busy that I don’t have time for myself.

Especially as this is my last semester at Assumption, I want to be able to hang out with friends, go out on Thursdays and just have time to watch the Bachelor on Monday nights without stressing out about all the things I should be doing. So, how do I fix this problem?

Last week I went to Candlelight Prayer, where the theme of the night was “Commitment.” I am very glad that I went, because I think it was much needed. The talks given by some of my good friends inspired me to reevaluate my commitments. Why am I committed to so many things? What benefit do they have for me? Obviously things like my internship and my classes are requirements for me to graduate, but why do I do what I do? So, in my head, I went through and tried to think of the reasons for WHY I am involved in the things that I am. I am working on my thesis because it is a requirement for the Honor’s Program, which I am proud to be a part of, and I really do enjoy the topic that I am writing about. I am applying to grad schools and scholarships because I am very passionate about furthering my education to become a nurse, and I need money to do so. I have a weekend job so that I can make money… but do I really need that extra hundred dollars a week? Maybe time to reevaluate… I am in Godspell because I love theater, I am part of the Provoc because I love to write and edit and I go to the gym because exercising helps me feel good about myself and relieve stress.

While I may be busy I am, for the most part, busy doing things that I enjoy. I love my internship, my classes (although Physiology is already a challenge) are very interesting and everything else I do brings me joy and keeps me busy. So why am I still feeling overwhelmed? I talked to my mom and some of my friends about quitting my job, or asking if I could cut back on my hours, because I saved up enough money over winter break to get me through the rest of the semester. But even if I do have those extra 10 hours on the weekends, I think I will still be overwhelmed, simply because this is my last semester as an undergrad, and the future is SCARY. So, like any logical person would do, I think I’ll just suppress the fact that I graduate in 4 months and try to enjoy this semester as much as I can.