Being a student at WKU is full of rough days and long nights. Whether you relate to all or some of this, the hope is to illustrate that your struggles are also shared among your peers.

Waking up

You overslept, it’s 7:30 a.m. and you have an 8 a.m. You throw on some clothes, stuff your backpack and frantically brush your teeth (or just chew gum). Whether you live on campus or off, you attempted to run up the famous hill. You reconsider all your life choices as you are fighting to go 3x speed. Once you’ve made it, you’re severely out of breath and maybe slightly sweaty even though it’s November. 

First class 

It’s 7:55 a.m. and you get to your class. You ask yourself, why on earth did you schedule an 8 a.m.? You may have only had that option, but the more likely answer is that you thought it wouldn’t be that bad. 

Even though you got more sleep than you did the night before, you’re still on the edge of nodding off in class. You’ve had literally nothing in your system since last night. No water, caffeine or food in general. Time seems to be non-existent at 8 a.m. class; every minute seems to pass after what has felt like 10 minutes. You plead for this class to be over, just to immediately go to your next. 

Eating

After the painstakingly long 8 a.m. lecture, with the minutes you have before your next class you scavenge vending machines to see if there is anything appetizing this early in the morning. You spend too much time debating if eating a Reese’s cup this early is socially acceptable or not.  

Now it’s time to go to your class empty-handed and hungry. Instead of trying not to fall asleep in this class, you spend your time trying to figure out what you’re going to eat after. 

The class is over and you have an hour before your next, you run to DSU praying that the lines are reasonable and you have enough time to eat. You scarf down your food and make your second hike up the hill – on a full stomach this time. You’re desperate to avoid the incline so you take the elevator in Grise to the fourth floor. 

Work/Extracurriculars 

You have finished your classes for the day or you work between classes. Now you have to go to your job to make money so you can survive on the weekends when the food options are limited and your rent is due. You may have a job on or off-campus, but regardless it is more time taken out of your day to finish your piling assignments. 

You may also have sport commitments and clubs you’re a part of, or maybe even run, on campus. You love all of these extracurriculars, but man do they pile up. Keeping yourself busy is fun until you’re cramming for a test you’ve barely had time to study for or an essay you haven’t started. 

Homework

You’re back home or your dorm room, you don’t know where to start with the enormous amount of work before you. You resort to the most reasonable thing you can do – scroll through TikTok or start a new TV show to binge on Hulu. 

Once you have spent a regrettable amount of time avoiding homework, you’re now able to at least start one assignment that is due. You’re barely making it, but you are able to get your stuff done — either turned in on time or with a minor extension. 

The only thing keeping you going is knowing that school ends in a month. You pull all the reserves and push to the finish line of your hardest semester yet. 

Sleeping

You laughed just reading the section title. Getting sleep is a lie you tell yourself is going to happen. Maybe your way of taking a break from schoolwork is by rewarding yourself with a nap or allowing yourself to go to bed for the night. 

Maybe it’s due to the weather changing or it getting darker outside, but every day you feel more tired than the day before. Balancing classes, work, assignments and sleep is overwhelming at times. 

Don’t forget that your physical and mental health needs come before your work. Hang in there, the end is fast approaching and you can finish strong.

Commentary writer Rose Donnelly can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @RoseDonnelly_