College isn’t easy, and the rest of life’s tribulations don’t stop just because you have midterms to take, two essays to type, and a group project to finish. Take it from someone who knows.
Spring break was just getting started and I was in San Antonio while the rest of my family was back home in Dayton. My first day of “R&R”, I got a call from my mom that my uncle was in a nearly fatal car accident and had been admitted to the ICU with extensive brain injuries. It made me realize that we are rarely awarded breaks in life. College is no exception. Professors compile us with work until we’re nearly drowning. We think we won’t be able to surface long enough to catch a breath. But in the midst of the waves, remember that this is temporary. The essays will be completed, the exams probably won’t be as hard as you think, and your workload isn’t nearly heavy enough to sink this ship that you’re in. You will not drown. Though he is still in critical condition, a brain bleed, a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, and many other bruises and breaks could not keep my uncle from progression.
Whatever you have weighing you down now, you will overcome. You will make it long enough to see next semester. Each day, improvements in my uncle’s health are being noted. Each day he is one step closer to the point where the doctors and my family are praying he gets. Though one day does not feel nearly long enough to accomplish everything scribbled in your Lilly Pulitzer planner, we must take our setbacks one day at a time as well. Eventually, we will reach a point when the exams are finally over, the checklist is complete, and we no longer feel the walls of Willy T. caving in on us. Until then, try to stay afloat.