It’s that time of the term again, the time when it feels like you just landed back on campus and the term is halfway done. I guess the word of the week is scatter-brained– it feels like one is being pulled in fifty different directions with a million things racing on everyone’s minds. I’m writing this on the day of Fall Fest, a time to celebrate the slow chill and falling leaves, and I doubt I’m alone in feeling that I’m the one falling. The cider donuts were a lovely coping mechanism picked up on the way to a daily sob session at the library, as I was getting ready to grind for all the work quickly piling up. There’s the lethargy of fall (as the buildings switch over to heating– call it baking at this point), where there’s no motivation to do anything but lay in bed and sleep or nurse warm drinks and binge watch comfort shows, but with midterms conveniently scheduled right when all one needs is rest, there is that inkling feeling of helplessness. 

So all we’re left to do is feel all the laziness in the world with the mountain of work closing in. Every day feels like a chore, and procrastination only takes you so far. Furthermore, Halloween also inches near, with all the social activities that come with the festivities adding to the mental list of things to remember that feels all too long. Midterms, Halloween, and class registration all crashing together just feels like too much, too soon, and all the limited energy I have after making the horribly cold walk back from a four-hour lab instantly evaporates just thinking about the things I need to do. 

At the same time, it’s fall. It’s time to relax, to take a breather, to make it through just one extra midterm and then it’s all over, the relief of having it done and not worrying for a brief moment. It’s the beauty in that one relieved breath you have before you need to run again, towards the next midterm, the next club event, the next big thing. It’s the little treasures of sipping an apple crisp macchiato on the way to class, the joy of wearing your favorite sweater, the slight chill in the wind waking you right up (for better or worse). So, yes. Midterms absolutely, unequivocally suck and there is no coming back from that. But let’s just get it done with for that one quick gasp of air, the momentary peace, that rewarding feeling of having made it out alive, and hopefully the freedom to get a brief moment to truly live.