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Shay Goodreau-Kangas
Do I have a choice? No, I don't. But do you know what I do have? Resilience and a plan.
Every semester presents its own issues, worries, fears, etc. It may be technological, it may be an issue with the teacher, it could be a variety of things if you are terribly unlucky.
But sometimes things have to go wrong before you can make them right.
This semester I recognize I have started by biting off more than I can chew. I forgot just how much time it takes to read all of the chapters and study, in addition to working. At this point in time, I am working four days a week. That is simply not going to cut it. I'm three days in, and I realized that on my first day.
However, that was mostly fear of one specific class. At the very least, I recognized the struggle on day one and could make a plan to remedy this unfortunate situation. It may be manageable; I just don't want to burn out one month in and not have the energy to continue. That would be rather unsatisfactory if I plan to graduate in two years.
Day one, I had no idea what I was getting into. I recognize I could have looked over past students' opinions about the teachers I currently have, except it seems I can't learn my lesson. But day one is only a gateway. It's never a sure thing, and it's understandable to be anxious on day one in general.
Nothing is ever as bad as it seems, even in the darkest of nights. At least that's what I keep telling myself because that's the only way I can remain sane.... OK, I'll settle for being stable.
Now that things have progressed, I can gauge what is expected of me and when assignments and projects are due. For example, I understand that every Friday I am guaranteed two assignments for my statistics class that I can have done before going to work.
Because of these predictions, I am actually able to have a social life. Well, kind of. We're still working on that aspect. Then again, socializing in school is enough, so on second thought, it's OK.
College life is adaptable, even after being away for a couple of months. It knocks you off your game for the first couple of weeks back. It's not impossible. Physics is impossible, but it's a good thing that isn't my problem. And never will be.
Life is hard enough as is. One thing I've learned from college is not to stress too much. That used to come second nature. Now, I am able to focus on the problem at hand and think more clearly about what I must do.
College taught me that it's manageable. Whatever it is. You probably won't like it, but you'd better do it. It's only when you don't complete a task that you should be stressing.
Shay Goodreau-Kangas is a guest columnist for 8-18 Media, having written for the organization in the past. Shay is now a sophomore at Northern Michigan University in Marquette and pursuing a degree in social work.