From the Editor: Juggling your time as a student is challenging, but worth it
Alyssa Laube, Coordinating Editor
Every seasoned university student knows what it’s like to be crushed under the burdens of academic stress. Whether it happens an hour before an important exam you forgot to study for, during your first day on-campus, or right before you graduate, the best thing you can do for yourself is to prepare not only to learn and make memories, but also for times of turmoil and fatigue.
When deadlines are stacking up around you and it feels like you’re going to burst if you add one more assignment to your agenda, take a minute to sit down, drink some water, listen to your favourite song, and calm down. You won’t be able to make progress if you’re too frazzled to think, so invest some time in getting to know yourself and what you need to be content with your bustling post-secondary life.
It might take some time to figure out what your go-tos for decompressing are. If it ends up being a few hours in bed watching Netflix or taking a long, tearful shower, do yourself a favour: accept it with open arms.
As students, we’re often taught to believe that our grades come before everything else. And they do matter, but what matters more is how happy you are in your everyday life. Simple pleasures can have an invaluable effect on your peace of mind, and the best way to succeed in something—academic or otherwise—is to genuinely want to succeed at it.
Student anxiety descends on most of us at one point or another. Some of us have pre-existing mental and physical health conditions, issues with our personal lives, and additional barriers to enjoying our time at university that add to that weight on our shoulders. Moving into our twenties, many of us are under the looming expectation of the best years of our lives while stumbling along the rocky road to adulthood. Mature learners here often have dependents to take care of, bills to pay, and learning curves to tackle at school.
Meanwhile, world politics refuse to slow down. Headlines these days are threatening and incessant, and we as youth are responsible for being aware of the issues that are encroaching on us and others around the world, no matter how much they scare us. All of this is hard to take when you’re trying to be a well-rounded, happy individual, but it’s also—indisputably—inevitable. And that’s okay.
There will be days when you feel your head in the clouds and your nerves on edge no matter what you do. Do your best to be ready for that, and be kind to yourself. Have your list of things to do at the ready in case life starts getting too hard for you to finish that essay or crack open another textbook, and know that the vast majority of your peers around you know how you feel. Reach out and ask for help if you need it, and remember: KPU is a community. Try to be there for one another this semester, but first and foremost, always make sure that you’re there for yourself.
