BOUGIE: Obligation vs. Obsession

We attend college with the idea that we will acquire some knowledge, receive a degree and hopefully make a few friends and have some fun while we're here. For some, though, school becomes less of an obligation and more of an obsession. As the material gets tougher and we mature, it becomes easier and easier to focus so intently on work that we forget to enjoy ourselves. I remember last semester when my workload got very heavy. Between papers, readings, rewrites, exams, quizzes and projects, I found little time to enjoy the company of my friends. My only guaranteed free time came at 5p.m., when I would go to dinner and spend more time than necessary chatting at the table. Soon after that, I would head back to my room and dive back into my homework, but was I being studious, or was I being obsessive?

The truth is that I'm not sure. Because I am an English major, I don't know what a reasonable workload is for the people studying business administration, math, or a foreign language. I hear horror stories about the "sophomore block" my teaching friends spook me with. Luka Zischka '11 tells me, "Education students rarely get an academic break, considering we are regularly required to exceed the usual 16 credits a semester. In addition, any free time we have is often filled with mandatory service requirements and intense in-the-field experience." Digesting all of this, I flip through an anthology, realizing that trudging through "Young Goodman Brown" for the umpteenth time isn't so bad.

Where is the line between library rat and model student? Remembering that I spent several Friday nights clacking away at a keyboard while listening to the people in my hall run screaming about the weekend, I don't think I'm the best person to answer that. It's easy to preach balance when workloads are manageable, and one can find enough time in the week to relax with friends, watch a little television or even catch up on some sleep. But when the pressure to perform gets heaped on by family or even one's own expectations, balance is a much harder thing to obtain. Perhaps if we all strove for mediocrity in everything we did, things would be less stressful. Of course, that's not the kind of thing I should endorse. Though if you do feel like schoolwork is breathing down the nape of your neck, take a little advice from me:

1)Try a few deep breathing exercises. I hear they work. Or pick up smoking.

2)I was kidding about that last bit. Please don't yell at me for advocating smoking.

3)Not that I look down on people who smoke. Let's just move on to the next one.

4)Try to step away for a while. Relaxing with friends can help you think more clearly, and, in turn, help your work.

5)Try to remember that making connections is a big part of college, and neglecting your health and wellbeing for the sake of your GPA might not be a trade you want to make.

6)As always, if things get overwhelming, talk to someone. SNC has a counseling center, and there are plenty of other people who are willing to listen to your frustrations.

7)Or pick up smoking.

No one sets out to become a school-obsessed student, but it happens. It's a fair assumption that people want to do well, but also have fun in the process. Learning to balance is something I'm still working on, and I'll be a senior in a few weeks.