Sleep deprivation; the only thing that most…wait not most..probably all students suffer from when it hits exam time. We cram, we sleep less, we eat less (and more unhealthy food), we even see the sun less since we’re always indoors all day either at the library or in our bedroom studying our asses off in hope to get a good grade, or at least pass. We get stressed, we panic, we get sucked into this delusion that we are not going to pass and ultimately just end up thinking, why…? why did I put myself through this…. you feel me? I’m sure you do. You’re probably suppose to be studying right now too, but instead you’re browsing the net, scrolling mindlessly on Facebook hoping something may strike your attention so that it can take your mind off those seemingly useless (why do I even need to know this) lecture notes; even if it was only for a little moment.
Poor you, or shall I say us? I too have and had my fair share of the pain and the agony. It is hard I know. We all tend to forget though…why we chose to do it. We complain, we moan, we get irritated, we even let out the BIGGEST sigh, repeatedly. All these emotions makes us forget why we chose this path. The gathering of knowledge, the application of such knowledge, the development of this; it is honestly a never ending circle. But who says it isn’t an experience worth enjoying? Who says it should be the most hated activity? You’re probably thinking where has my sanity gone right? why would she think that studying is fun and enjoyable?! Well..why not?
Don’t get my wrong, sometimes I do HATE studying, especially if it is completely and utterly useless and not applicable to me and my future career, which is probably in most cases how almost everyone is feeling at the moment. Every time I enter a study space; besides the infrequent laughs amongst peers, all I see are emotionless faces. I sense boredom, anger to even hatred. It is definitely a sad space to be in. It sucks, I know. We often dwell in these momentary feelings and begin to contemplate and maybe even regret choosing this particular path. For all I know, maybe all we wanted was to earn good money and live a simple life. Not go through the torment of studying and cramming and the stress of sitting the exam on a little square table which is HONESTLY the smallest table one could ever want to do exams on….its ridiculous. One paper, two hours and a whole lot of cramming decides your next step. Whether you pass with a good grade, you pass but just merely or…you don’t and the subject(s) must be repeated, otherwise you won’t be able to graduate. Your hecs fee goes up…your motivation goes down, the list can honestly go on for a while.
Why do we let ourselves be tormented by all this? Oh that’s right, because we supposedly chose to put ourselves through all this. It’s okay, it’s not like we haven’t made rash decisions before right..? Like the time you chose to devour a family meal from KFC all by yourself because you thought that was the best thing to do for your empty stomach but you INSTANTLY regret it right after? It’s okay, we all do it. But you enjoyed it right? When those lips met those tender, juicy chicken meat while you tore off that crunchy flavoursome skin with your teeth, you honestly fell in love. Or drowning those nicely salted potato chips in that little pot of gravy before allowing it to enter your mouth. Salivating? Ditto. I know..life is hard, we can never make the right decisions. For some, it seems like everything you choose is the wrong answer for you. But for others, having that extra sugar in their coffee, or buying that top online was probably the best decision they have made.
Studying sucks, but it only sucks if you don’t like the content. Or say that the degree you chose is definitely the one you wanted but the subjects you need to pass to get that degree is what you hate. Well buddy, suck it up. You are bound to come across some things you dislike heavily in your course, but there will definitely be bits you will absolutely adore about it. You didn’t like that piece of chicken breast you got given but you loved the drumstick? It’s the same in all situations. Enjoying one part but not the other can make things quite difficult, it makes the journey to the other side much more difficult than you think. Life isn’t all about butterflies and flowers, if you were mature enough you’d see past these beauties and understand how hard they have worked to get to where they are. I’m not saying that you MUST enjoy every part of your degree, but learn to understand and accept the fact that things do get tough, things to get shitty along the way and it sometimes isn’t easy to handle certain situations. Just enjoy it. If this isn’t your final semester, you’re going to experience this whole thing again soon.
So take a break, stretch your crippled body and relax. Take time to actually understand what you are learning and find ways to make it enjoyable if it is honestly the worst thing for you right now. The knowledge you are acquiring, the knowledge you are developing will most likely become the tools you’ll need to get your foot in the door of your dream career. Or even better, help you start your own business.
T.
Benevolent 