Do you ever feel like the world is going around, rushing from one place to another, except you've taken a detour? Or perhaps you are so incredibly stressed out from school, studying and tests that you've actually forgotten the meaning of it all. I have. It's so repetitive I feel like a robot doing the same thing, day in and day out. What's it all for anyway? I wake up, go to school, receive homework, study, take a test. Then repeat the cycle, over and over again, and for what? So I can enter college and repeat the cycle. Once again for what, so I can enter graduate school, give me a break!!! It's times like these (which account for most of the school year) when I feel like screaming, "Stop the world, I want to get off!"

There is only so much studying I can do before my brain explodes, and I am really close to reaching that limit. I know in the end it is all for the best, "so I can fulfill my career goals, prosper, and live a wonderful life." Except for the time being I would just like to stop, hide the textbooks and study guides, and chill out.

I mean, enough is enough. I'm not a computer. I just want some time when I can go to bed at two in the morning (without worrying about falling asleep in class the next day) and wake up during the soap operas the next day. Some time when I can do exactly what I want, when I want, and not have the thought of a major exam hanging over my head. That is why I was ever so grateful for this past December vacation. Eleven spectacular days for me to do exactly what I wanted, whenever I wanted.

There is only so much that you can handle before you go crazy. If you are on the verge of a nervous breakdown caused by the stress of school, do what I do. Hide the books, blow off homework for a day (it can always be made up) take a long hot bath, then do whatever you want. Sure, school is important, but don't forget, you come first. n