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Stress of the season
Editorial
by Ashley Martin
the Carillon
As December approaches, two things come to mind: final exams and Christmas. The stress that accompanies these events is inevitable, and tedious. I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels this way.
Final exams are the primary source of worry. As a first-year student and a lifelong overachiever, finals are my last chance at raising the lower-than-usual marks I’ve earned since September. Those marks came as a shock to me and have caused me pain all semester, because in high school I had top marks and now I’m getting 60s and 70s in everything. When they told me at orientation that my marks would drop about 15 per cent in university, I didn’t believe them. As a result, finals are my last chance to win back my parents’ love and approval.
Why are my marks so low? I can’t blame it all on my profs. I thought the classes I’d chosen were going to be super interesting. I was so wrong. I ended up learning a bunch of stuff that I don’t care about and now they’re going to test me on it. Pushing yourself to learn things that don’t matter at all in the long run is such a headache. Honestly, who cares about Socrates? I’m not gonna lie to you: the reason I took Philosophy 100 was to find out whether or not God exists. I definitely thought they were going to tell me flat out that God exists, or doesn’t, and offer valid proof to back up their allegations. They didn’t do anything of the kind. This only pushed me further away from theism and now I can’t even pray to Descartes’s “God” to help me pass finals.
Christmas is a time of joy, peace on earth and good will towards men. It’s also the ultimate shopping season. Damn the commercialization of this most blessed of days! You have to worry about buying gifts for everyone that matters to you, and God forbid you forget someone. I’d like to know where people get all the money to spend on gifts. I’m lucky if my bank account holds $100 at any given time. Though I spend every spare moment working multiple jobs, my income gets sucked up by the craziest things like the forty bucks a month that California Fitness directly withdraws from my account. I don’t even have time to go to the gym!
Christmas also means having to come up with creative, thoughtful gifts to give to everyone. This usually requires shopping for hours on end for the nonexistent “perfect gift.” Who has time to shop? Between studying, working and mental breakdowns I haven’t yet begun to think about gifts. Conversely, my boyfriend, with his full-time job, says he’s already bought me “three main presents,” and several little ones. Where am I supposed to find the time and the money to match that? I read that more people have nervous breakdowns in November and December than in any other month. I believe it. The shopping season may yet make Mormons of us all.
Between finals and Christmas, life is stressful. It doesn’t even end there, though. Many profs feel that now is the time to pile on the last-minute essays, as if we aren’t busy enough. It’s hard to understand how people are so happy during these winter months. It’s cold out, you spend more money than ever and your brain is worked to overload. Oh happy days.
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