I think it’s safe to say that stress levels are starting to rise in Whitaker Hall. The tests and assignments that have been slowly creeping up on us have burst onto the scene, and I must say, I’m very glad I’m not doing a degree that requires me to take BIOSCI107 because from what I’ve heard, it’s a beast of a paper, and the test is Tuesday night (shoutout to all my Health Sci, Biomed and BioSci peeps, you got this!).
So glad I’m not Biomed
So even though I’m not doing a hardcore course like Health Science, Biomed or Law, I am still stressed. Not only am I an overthinker and a perfectionist, which is a great combination of traits to begin with (not), but I’m also a serious procrastinator. But, I’m an effecient procrastinator. If I have laundry that needs doing, it gets done. I vacuum my room, tidy my desk, rearrange my wardrobe, and do all sorts of random things just so I don’t have to do work. It means my room is sparkling clean most of the time, but it’s a problem. As effective as it might be, procrastination is still procrastination.
Courtesy of Dominique
Regardless of my awful habit, I have been getting assignments started as early as possible and getting pre-labs done the week before they’re due. But sometimes, things feel like they’re getting out of control. It only takes missing one lecture due to an unintentional sleep-in until 10.45am to feel like you don’t have your life in order.
I’m gonna be real with you guys here; a culmination of stress and tiredness resulted in a little breakdown last Thursday night. I went to my two lectures in the morning and then spent the afternoon studying with minimal breaks. I was feeling okay afterwards, maybe a little stressed but nothing I couldn’t handle. I had hockey practise after dinner, which I ended up arriving late at because my ride got caught up in a tricky situation. I wasn’t actually that late but I chucked on my goalie gear as quickly as I could. No one was annoyed or anything, so that was a relief.
But in the first ten minutes of practise, my knee popped out. It’s just something that happens (it pops out and pops back in again) and it was very painful. When I recovered from that, I hopped back in goal, and then within five minutes, that same knee got smacked with a hockey ball when I went down to make a slide tackle. It was a solid hit and I knew a bruise had already started to form.
As a result of my two little mishaps, I was a little bit more emotional than I had been at the beginning of practise. In the carpool back to Whitaker afterwards, I was talking with a couple of the girls about university, assignments, and so on, and it was at that point where I suddenly felt overwhelmed. As soon as I got back to my room, I started sobbing.
I wish I looked this good when I cried
This has happened before, so I knew how to handle it. My neighbours must have thought I’d gone insane; the walls aren’t soundproof, so they would’ve been able to hear me giving myself a pep talk, “Get a hold of yourself, everything is fine, just calm down.” It took me a few minutes to calm down and realise that it wasn’t the end of the world and everything was actually going to be okay.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that sometimes you have moments where everything feels like it’s piling on top of you, and in those moments you have to realise that no assignment or test is more important than your mental wellbeing. Take a breather; spend a few hours bingewatching a TV show, go for a walk up and down Queen Street, catch up with friends over a coffee or a meal. Do what you need to do to give yourself a break and don’t feel guilty about it.
Myers Park with the bae
“Elena has her first churro experience”
Well, I have a chemistry test this Thursday at 6.30pm (who thought it was a good idea to have evening tests?!), pre-readings to do and an essay to write, so I better get onto those. The mid-semester break is next week though, so even though it’s not much of a holiday (study all day, every day), it’ll still be nice to go home and chill with the fam.
Until next time – Emily