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Your alarm goes off way too early, you roll off the bed, splat on the floor, get up, shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, do chores, and sit down to start your school day. Six, eight, ten hours later, with a few meals thrown in and--if you are lucky--a break, you are finally done with school…and ready for bed. Repeat for six years. Does this sound like middle- and high-school to you?

 

That’s what those years were like for me: an endless cycle of work, work, work. Sure, I played--weekends and late nights, cutting into my sleep. Thank goodness for adrenaline and chocolate. But, was it really worth it?

 

Well, I must humbly put forth that I had a fantastic transcript to send off to college: almost straight As; nine credits of foreign language; a full set of core courses; musical, artistic, and sport extracurriculars; and tons of volunteer work. I got acceptance letters from top schools: William and Mary, Ursinus College, Grove City College. But…was it worth it?

 

I decided on William and Mary, and arrived there on August 25th. I unpacked my things, settled into dorm life, ate at the Caf, attended classes, made new friends, found a church home, avoided the resident skunk, and drowned in homework. (William and Mary is cruel and unusual in the amount of homework given--worse than TPS.) One late night, I was studying and really wishing that I was doing something else. And I mean really wishing. What was I doing with my life? As far back as I could remember, I had been at school, learning, studying, excelling. All my life. The thought struck me so hard that I just sat there, mulling it over. Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing? I worked through elementary and middle school for high school, then through high school for college, now I’m slaving through college to get to grad school, through grad school to get hired somewhere or to get married and raise a family, to retire and then die. Yay. I sighed. When would I start, you know, well, living?

 

As I look back on high school, especially the last two years, my school work took top priority. It took priority over friends, over pleasure, over hobbies. My friendships suffered. A few even died away completely (friendships, not the friends). I rarely had had just outright fun while also being fully rested and filled with healthy food. And my reward? This, studying on a Friday night alone in my dorm, a possible six years from any relief.

 

To make a long story short, I left William and Mary on medical leave late November of last year. The strange fatigue and weakness that has plagued me since early 2006 was too severe for me to continue at college. And the what-am-I-doing-with-my-life question still haunts me.

 

Since I’ve been home I’ve taken it real easy (doctor’s orders), my main duties are taking my brother to and from school and doing the household laundry. There is church on Sundays, Bible study on Wednesdays, youth group every other Friday, and an occasional outing with a friend. It’s such an odd pace of life for me. So slow, relaxed. At first I thought I’d go crazy. I was used to working all-out from six in the morning until eleven at night. But, you know, now that I’m getting used to it, I’ve discovered something. I have time to enjoy life. There is room for spontaneity and extended outings. Of, course, mine is a rather extreme case with all of this ordered, prolonged rest. But the point remains. I think, through all those years of pre-college schooling, I was missing something. And that something was fun.

 

So, confine your schoolwork. It doesn’t rule your life; you do. Set a specific time-frame each day, say, between 8am and 6pm. Then, after 6pm and before 8am, no matter how behind you might be, give yourself a break. Do something you really want to do. Have a crazy fashion photo shoot with a friend, go see the baby cheetahs at the zoo, skateboard with the neighbor kid, draw for hours while listening to Lord of the Rings on audio CD, call up an old friend and waste all your cell’s minutes catching up with them, or volunteer to walk the dogs at that animal shelter just up the road. Make sure that it’s something you just enjoy, without a single thought of, but that assignment is due tomorrow or will this look good on my transcript? Seriously. Just have fun. Don’t work yourself to death and burn out like I did.

 

 

Emily Griswold is a freshman at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, though at the moment she is home on medical leave. She plans to major in neuroscience and minor in biochemistry. Please direct questions, comments, suggestions, and corny jokes for future column topics to her at marotiel[AT]yahoo.com.

 

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