Junior economics major
Walking out of the airport and driving up my childhood driveway last week, I felt like I was stepping out of an alternate reality — as if College Park, Tydings Hall and the all-consuming stress of college life were nothing but distant pieces in a snow globe. Even if it was colder in my hometown, Minneapolis, shaking it up and stepping outside my insular daily routine provided the warmth of a fresh perspective.
On one hand, it was a return to the life I knew so well for 18 years, and on the other, it’s undeniable how some things have changed forever. For many of us, the sense of change we experienced over Thanksgiving weekend offered old reminders of why we left home in the first place and what we hoped to accomplish in college and life when we left our childhoods however long ago. Our old dreams and aspirations confronted our current perspectives, creating mixed feelings of clarity and jolting terror: What do I want in life? What do I live for?
Answering these questions often gets buried deep beneath the avalanche of responsibilities we face in our little individual snow globes. What we truly care about in life takes a backseat to immediate priorities and the pressures of five-year plans. This next test will decide your medical school application’s fate; failing this upcoming project will submerge any hopes of landing a decent job; breaking up with your girlfriend will destroy your best hope for marriage — or so you think. In the daily battle against stress, we figure putting our heads down and sublimating our anxieties into studiousness or partying will allow us to survive the perils of college unscathed. We remain positive through numbness.
Though when it comes to enduring less trivial pains than poor grades or future jobs — e.g., the death of a family member, chronic depression or an anxiety disorder — it’s easy to start believing your performance in school and most things in life have lost any significance. Slowly, giving up seems more like an inevitability than a choice — whether this means you throw away your college education, your relationships or, if things turn sour enough, your life.
If you’re feeling hopeless and lost amid the craziness of life, you’re not alone — in a 2009 survey, nearly 30 percent of college students reported feeling “so depressed it was difficult to function.” In another 2008 survey, more than 50 percent of college students admitted to contemplating suicide at some point during their lifetime. No matter how small or severe your distresses or frustrations may seem, they’re valid — never forget that. And going to the counseling center or mental health center is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Sometimes simple reminders can suffice. As finals approach and you finish your first, fifth or whichever semester of college, remember what exists outside of the college bubble — outside of the suffocating snow globe we call campus life. To quote the old Hebrew proverb: “This too shall pass.”
If going home for Thanksgiving didn’t remind you of your priorities in life, take the time today to reflect on your passions. In Stamp Student Union’s Atrium, the Help Center, the peer counseling and crisis intervention hotline on the campus, is hosting a “Reasons I Live” event today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Share the reason you live with the world and, most importantly, with yourself. Your life may change, but never lose sight of your priorities — let your passions live on.
Nadav Karasov is a junior economics major and the training director for the Help Center. He can be reached at opinionumdbk@gmail.com.
