Payne in the Pierce

  This week’s topic is a bit of a change because it isn’t a topic specific to the Franklin Pierce Campus but pretty much crosses every college campus across the country. I have seen a lot of this around campus and I felt I needed to discuss it. Is it just me or do college work loads ever become a little overwhelming? Not only that but do you notice with each year it gets worse and worse?
       

This is something that I have noticed in the weeks since my last article. I find that as we students get farther on in years, particularly during Spring Semester, we tend to have what I call “stress freaks.” Let me give you an example of one of the many that I have had this year. My poor roommate strolls in and looks like he’s having a pretty good day. Being the conscientious person that he is, he will usually open with something along the lines of “yo, what’s up?”
       

Now you and I both know that when someone asks “what’s up?” or “how are you doing?” they usually expect a simple “good” or “bad” in response and then we get on with our lives. In this particular instance, however, I seem to sink into a momentary lapse of sanity where instead of giving a traditional answer I instead end up sharing an extremely dramatic rendition of my entire life’s story since the last time I saw him. It usually goes a little something like this. “Well I’m going to fail out of school. That’s right, I’m going to fail all of my classes and then drop out of school. Then I’m going to end up living in a box under a bridge somewhere picking change out of rain gutters for a small fry at McDonald's. There’s no humanly possible way for me to finish all of the work that I have to get done so I have just accepted my life of failure and poverty.” Ever been greeted like this before?
       

Now this is admittedly not the first time I have freaked in such a manner. My roommate has heard many such rants since we began living together a year and a half ago. I also know that I am not the only one who does such things. I, too, have been on the receiving ends of many a stress freak. You know what I’m talking about. Everything seems to be due at the same time and no matter how many to-do lists and homework charts you make, it still seems impossible to complete.
       

The most horrific part of this is that as the years go on, they start to follow a pattern. You see, first semester of freshman year is the honeymoon period of college. The work isn’t too intense and you begin acquainting yourself with the social scene. Then as abruptly as it began, second semester rolls around and the honeymoon is over. I know that was the first semester where I ever had a moment where I felt completely overwhelmed. Not only that, but I find that as the semesters continue forward the more frequent and more volatile the stress freaks become. There’s no actual violence, of course, but as time goes by there will usually be some dramatic hand gesturing and maybe some slight shouting thrown into the mix.
       

How does one deal with the stress freaks? Honestly it’s different for everyone. I know that I personally make sure that I take some time out of every day to sit down and watch some good television. I usually pop in some TV on DVD since I never trust what is actually on the television. (Unless of course it is on FPTV.) Usually it only leads to me watching a show that I hate but am too fascinated by it to change the channel, like “Wife Swap.” I usually put in something that I really love like “Golden Girls” or “Gilmore Girls.” A little comedy goes a long way with me and both of these shows are so literate that I end up feeling smarter and more mentally prepared to work because I watched them.
       

This is what works for me. You’ll need to find what works for you. At least for me it really does help, whether you’re dealing with large papers, possibly a music or theater piece, or even with an end-of-college Competency Exam. It’s fine to freak; we all do it. Just learn how to come back from it and you got it made.