Stress is a very real experience at Bryn Mawr. Everyone has that one semester, or for some it seems like a whole year, where they just can’t catch a break. When I was signing up for classes at the end of last year, my thought process went something like this: I’m not a first year anymore! I get to start in on the meaty stuff of my education; I’m going to take all of these classes that are really interesting and also really hard!

That was not one of my better ideas. When picking classes, it is always a good idea to ask yourself this question: what will I do if every single class has a major assignment due in the space of two days? This will undoubtedly happen at some point, because all professors are on some sort of super smart person ESP network. It feels incredibly overwhelming, and the only thing to do is head to the library. I don’t study in the library very often, but when I do, there’s either food, or I’m about to plow through a lot of homework.  And there’s never food in the library, because it might get on the books. So this past week I’ve had a lot of work. I was in the library until it closed one night (Carpenter closes at 8 some nights—it’s not that impressive).

Luckily for my social life, it’s more likely that I’ll close down the dining hall than the library. Because, after all, I’m a Mawrtyr. The reason why I was so excited to take hard classes this semester was because my freshman year professors were so awesome. The professors assign so much work because they know we can do it, or at least enough to learn what they’re trying to teach us. I finished my term paper with plenty of time to spare, and was so excited about what I was writing it on that my friends told me to stop telling them psychology fun facts. It all worked out.

I just hope I never have a semester like this one again.