How Thanksgiving break will be my saving grace from weeks of stress

As we start to get closer to the season of writing term papers, finishing group projects and scheduling study sessions for finals, we may start to feel burnt out and exhausted. As a student who is doing all three of those, while also factoring in law school applications, Thanksgiving break is the time of the semester that I’m looking forward to the most.

It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed by the amount of work we get assigned, especially leading up to the end of the semester. Professors want to make sure that their students understand the material and are ready for final exams, but students sometimes feel like they aren’t realizing how many of our other professors are thinking the same thing.

For me, all of my deadlines for my biggest assignments seem to all fall on the same day: my last class before Thanksgiving break. I’ve been rushing these last couple of weeks to make sure I get things done in order of their difficulty, getting easy things out of the way first while leaving the more time-consuming assignments for last, and also making sure that my law school applications are ready to be submitted the minute my October LSAT score comes out on Nov. 20.

Going into this semester, my last semester at the University of Miami, I expected that what would be the most difficult for me would be completing my applications. Instead, I found myself able to get those components rounded up and ready to go way easier than I thought. My six classes, which I assumed would be less stressful to me, have shown to be what has thrown me into a frenzy. I have all kinds of papers and projects coming up before Thanksgiving that I thought would be a breeze, but are now making me nervous and frantic.

Being able to go back home for Thanksgiving break means being able to disconnect from my classes, my applications and the day-to-day things that make me feel like time is passing by so slowly that graduation seems years away. This break is an opportunity to eat good food, watch movies with my mom and play with my dog. It’s going to allow me to recover from all the late-night study sessions so that when it’s time to come back in December for a few days of classes before finals, I’ll be able to feel like graduation is only a few tests and papers away.

Since the first time I walked onto a college campus, I’ve dreamed about the day that I zip up that black gown and put on my decorated cap. Even though these next couple of weeks are going to seriously test my mind’s ability to stay calm and not give in to exhaustion, it’ll all be worth it when I’m able to celebrate Thanksgiving with the people that I love. I’ll be giving thanks for all of the blessings I have in my life before my biggest milestone so far: university commencement.

Finishing my last semester of college while juggling law school applications may be some of the most stressful days I’ve had so far, but when I’m sitting at home with some hot chocolate and I’m relaxing with my family, stress will be the last thing on my mind at that very moment, and that is exactly what I, and I’m sure many more college students, need right now.

Britny Sanchez is a senior majoring in political science.

Featured image source: PlusLexia.com