This time of the year, everyone is super busy with research papers, presentations and projects. Our lives are driven by the fear of failure and it seems that the only thing that matters in the world is coffee, your bio textbook, and improving your up-to-the-wire writing skills.
In the microcosm we call college, it’s easy to block out all of the other factors in our lives. But sometimes the most important thing is taking a moment to look outside the world of dorms and meal plans.
Celebs do it too!
Just last weekend I, myself was sitting on the living room couch feeling panicked about how I was going to get through all of the following week’s meetings, assignments, and studying that I had to do just to keep my head above water. Then my sister came down and asked me if I wanted to watch a movie.
Forty-five minutes later I was wheezing, squeaking, and maybe even slobbering. Tears were pouring from my swollen eyes. I have never looked so repulsive in my live. No, I was not having a strange allergic reaction—I was crying. The disk my sister popped into the DVD player was “My Sister’s Keeper”—a movie about a young girl with cancer and her sister that was essentially conceived for the sole purpose of donating her organs to help her desperate family.
As a repeat offender of watching “Titanic” and any Richard Gere movie I could get my hands on, I have been prepared from a young age to get ready for these types of occasions with a box of Kleenex and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s. But nothing could prepare me for the hyperventilating that would occur. I’ve seen a lot of sad movies, but never have I reacted the way I did.
After yelling at my sister for making me watch a movie that would upset me so much, I realized that it was actually just the remedy I needed. Watching a movie about the importance and privilege of life made all the things I was worried about seem so much less important. It may sound cheesy, but it’s true.
I know it was just a movie. But the fact is, people go through tragic things like Ana did in “My Sister’s Keeper” everyday and wish that their biggest worry was about making that Powerpoint presentation or studying those 106 art history flashcards.
Grades are important and it is a great quality to be a good worker, but sometimes it’s just not about that. Don’t shut out all your friends and family during finals week because you decided to pull an all-nighter three days in a row to finish that 20 page research paper. Put in the full effort, but when you start to feel overwhelmed or totally consumed by school, take a breather and watch a movie about someone in an unfortunate situation. It will make you realize that these things don’t mean as much as they did two hours before and there will be so much less pressure.
If you’re anything like me, you may make a few noises that surprise you and look like a crazy new species of animal, but trust me… It works!
So grab those Kleenex ladies, finals week is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!
A real-life story:
There are so many heart-wrenching stories and true life movies out there that remind us to not sweat the small stuff. But sometimes hearing about or seeing these stories makes up want to help.
Mason is an eight-year-old boy that goes to church with myself and my twin sister Caitlin (our Campus Cutie editor). He is the sweetest, happiest little boy you will ever meet. But he does have one flaw. Mason was born a critically ill child and has struggled to survive ever since. For more about his story visit helpformason.com
Mason on one of his “bad” days.
One of the things he really wants to do in his life is to be on The Ellen Show and dance with her. So how can you help? On the show’s website, there is a form to nominate a deserving person to be on the show. Many people are also familiar with the fact that Ellen loves Twitter. If we all just tweet her the link to Mason’s website with his story who knows what might happen… So take a break from studying and log onto Twitter and tweet The Ellen Show (@TheEllenShow) about Mason with the hashtag #helpformason. Doing something that makes you feel good is the best stress relief!