The rat race that is college life is a hard one to avoid. After awhile we all get sucked in. Or forced in&whats that you say? Just an English major? No philosophy or biology to go along as a complement. What all are you involved in? Only the soccer team? Just choir? We all know the type well, those overextended always-on-the-run peers who employ guilt to those of us who don't do the same: the classmate that looks shocked when you confess your contentment with getting more than two hours of sleep a night, the friend whose idea of catching-up with your life is to have you spit out all the details over a 20-minute power lunch, that girl down the hall who spends her weekends holed up in the library and then can't stop bragging to you about her marathon study sessions on Monday morning. What did you say were doing this weekend?
What happens to students who can't balance enough balls in the air? They're bound to stick out; especially, with the hundreds of other jugglers surrounding them, who all manage to effortlessly toss their balls into the air day after day.
Not only are students coping with the daily grind of classes and studying, but to go on top of all of that, there are the: athletic practices, music ensembles, student government meetings, work-study hours, volunteer duties, theater productions, intramural competitions, group study sessions. It's enough to make you think that the ulcer and herniated disc should be listed as a common side effect, on a warning label for prospective St. Olaf students.
There's a reason why students are being driven into sleep-deprived madness. It's that lingering high school mentality, the one that causes students to be constantly projecting their futures, always searching for new ways to impress those that could one day decide where their life ends up.
We have all been highly trained in the art of how-to-worry-about-our future. But we would all be wise to realize what seniors now on the brink of graduation are beginning to understand: this time in our life won't last forever so we might as well enjoy it while we've got it. Tomorrow and everything else planned on our schedules can wait for another day.