The chaos of the semester so far has left everyone feeling quite exhausted and the stressed-out vibes were felt across campus. I had spent hours on end in Watzek tirelessly working on everything I needed to finish prior to going home for November break.
I was also stressed about the logistics of travelling back to my home in Colorado. I had a flight leaving late on Tuesday night, meaning I wouldn’t be able to attend classes on Wednesday. I was feeling the pressure to get all my assignments for the entire week done by that Monday morning, as well as studying for an Organic Chemistry midterm.
Though my Monday was hectic, I felt an incredible sense of relief by the end of the day from having completed the last big stretch of work before break.
Tuesday night I caught a flight home, and had to pull an all-nighter to make it home but I found myself so incredibly excited to see my family and spend some time at home.
As an introvert, I was feeling overexerted and really needed some time to rest, recharge and process where I was in the semester and what I wanted to accomplish with the rest of my semester.
So, at 5 in the morning after finally arriving home, I turned in my biology assignment (sorry professor Torigoe), and then went to sleep.
The break brought a lot of perspective, as breaks tend to do. This is something inherent in the way in which the semester unfolds and builds up to a peak only to settle down and plateau once more. I find that during the chaos that sometimes occurs at various times in the semester, it can be easy to get caught up in all that is due and all that is yet to be due and forget to savor all the various things that happen around you. In this sense the break allowed me to dwell on life and the beautiful ways which it had developed around me without me even realizing.
I realized how glad I am for the journey I have had, though unexpected at Lewis and Clark, and how grateful I am for the journey that is yet to come.
Before I decided to attend Lewis and Clark, I spoke with an LC student who had attended the same high school as me. I remember them saying that they didn’t know they were going to attend LC and it wasn’t necessarily their first pick but now that they were there they couldn’t picture life anywhere else.
And now I realize just how much that statement is true for me as well. Returning home to the town I grew up in, helped me realize just how much I have outgrown that small town. I realized just how much I have changed as a person and how much more I like the trajectory of my life now that I go to LC.
College is not easy by any means. It is rigorous, demanding, and it has challenged me in so many more ways than I had expected it to. But it has also taught me so much about the world, and has brought me unique experiences and some of the best people I’ve ever met.
So though there are only two weeks until the end of the semester, and this semester has been wildly stressful and chaotic, the journey will still be beautiful.
And after spending time with family and taking time to rest I realize just how amazing college is, and I can’t wait to fly back to Portland tonight and tackle the rest of the semester.
I hope everyone reading had a good November break, and though the holiday season can be stressful for a lot of people I hope that at the least each and everyone of you were able to take some time for yourself!
Thanks for reading:))
-Priyanka