Stress

It is 100% true that I haven't known the meaning of stress until this semester.

A friend came into my room and
found me like this....

I've never had so many consecutive months of grueling classes, planning for my future, and correcting mistakes that I've made. Don't get me wrong- I've had an awesome semester. I've met so many fantastic people and grown so much as a person. But I've definitely been under continued stress like never before... and these last weeks of school have been and will be no different.

I apologize for my lack of activity this past week- I had two huge exams, meetings, and Dance Marathon Grand Prix parties to help facilitate. From the moment I woke up until the moment I went to bed, my mind was racing with tasks and lists. I assure you that I would have loved to have a moment to write down my thoughts, but I've barely had time to shower (I made time for that though) and eat this week. Chaos. It has been utter chaos.

But I somehow made it out alive... until finals week that is. Here's how I kept kinda sane:

1. Lists
I know I sound like the crazy list lady, but I made a master list Sunday night and would tweak it each day based on how much I anticipated I could get accomplished that day. It was less overwhelming to look at my list with so much crossed off. Each morning when I looked at it, I would remind myself that it was possible to get it all done after how much I had accomplished the other days.

2. Meals were Meals
A lot of times I'll meet friends for dinner and we'll end up talking about school or working on school work. This week I tried to avoid bringing up school or the upcoming exams while eating. I talked solely about life and lived Grand Prix vicariously through those who have less grueling schedules.

3. Reading
I made sure to read to relax my mind before I feel asleep. Even if it was two pages- which it often was after reading notes and books for hours - and it was midnight, I wanted to give myself that little bit of relaxation. My mind would still race as I fell asleep, but it was more for me to mentally say that I was relaxed than anything.

4. Future Promises
This worked more than anything, I think. I kept telling myself that Thursday at 10:00, my hard work will have paid off and I could be a normal Purdue student during Grand Prix. Although I came home from my exam and watched Legally Blonde instead, the idea of finally getting out and socializing got me through my to-do list.

Today and tomorrow morning I'm going to try to take it as easy as possible. My crazy schedule starts back up Sunday with all day PUDM fundraising, so I'll have to work on some homework before then. But luckily this upcoming week is "dead" week (read: profs hurry to get you as much information before the final as possible aka more stress) so a few classes are cancelled. It's crazy to think that I have less than two weeks of my freshman year left. I'll be moving home... to where I still have no summer job or volunteer opportunities completely set up.

Cue the continued stress... I guess it'll never end!