Hello beautiful people, it’s Adela again! Lately, I’ve been so down because of the constant motions that come with life. I’m currently completing my first semester of freshman year and I have never been so overwhelmed in so long. I was not expecting it to hit me like a truck. Coming in, I expected freshman year to be a breeze just because it usually is the easiest compared to all the other years. But I was wrong about that, I think every year of college or education has its difficulty based on your experience! I should’ve known this because my senior year of high school was probably the simplest for me because of my experience and knowledge after attending for the past four years. In college, however, it is different, so I’m not trying to compare it to high school. Although, since I am fresh to the atmosphere I’m not skillful on how to maneuver or balance college life at GCU yet. And this has become a challenge for me.
I’m a commuter so that means I drive myself to and from GCU. Luckily, I only have to be there on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this semester. It seems like nothing, but it’s a 30-minute drive to GCU from my house and back, and there’s usually heavy traffic when I’m coming back so it usually takes an hour before I get home. On top of that, I’m working full time as a certified nurse assistant at my local nursing home. Plus I’m, balancing extracurricular activities it’s been hard to find the motivation to go to school and be successful in general. I feel like I’ve been trying to take on all these things and I just need a break.
With the pressures of being the first person in my family to attend a university, I don’t want to let them down. I want to be able to graduate and be able to make them proud. So I recently decided to just breathe. I realize I can’t do everything and that’s alright. I need to just focus on the important things. So I changed my schedule to on call at my job. That way I pick the days I can work so I’m not super tired to go to school the next day. Also, I wouldn’t be stuck working night shifts. I could pick my shifts. I also decided to focus on 3 clubs this year. Two that relate to my major and the other that brings out my passion for writing! Wink, wink at HerCampus GCU! I even took on reading for fun, I haven’t done that since the eighth grade!
What I’m saying is if you feel overwhelmed, let yourself breathe! You’re not superwoman! It’s okay to be stressed out, but don’t sulk. Do something about, try new hobbies, cut people off if you have to! Your mental health isn’t worth draining for something situational. I know it’s easier said than done, but help yourself out sometimes! I’m even thinking about minoring in screenwriting just because I love writing and films. I’m tired of feeling disappointed in myself. I’m not perfect so I’m going to stop trying to be a perfectionist. It just sucks that it took some tears and stress to finally come to terms with that.