Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

Our Voice

staff

In one minute there are 60 seconds. In one hour there are 60 minutes. In one day there are 24 hours. In one year, there are 365 days. In one semester, there are 16 weeks and time is never enough.

For a college student, time is valuable. With exams approaching in the next two weeks, students are grinding down coffee beans and grinding out papers, all at the sacrifice of sleep.

And who needs sleep when 15 credits are demanding that we be prepared for pop quizzes, hundreds of pages of readings, exams and labs? When the credits aren’t hounding us, how ‘bout that part-time boss who expects us to come to work prepared to work? Or that coach who expects heart and soul on the court or the field? And let’s not forget the families: whether married or living with Mom and Dad, don’t we owe them some of that precious time and energy?

They would argue that we do.

We, as American college students, have become the poster children for efficiency. We have been bred to balance. We balance the many demands of professors, friends and family to achieve…what, exactly?

Stress that leads to weakened immune systems?

For many of us who work so hard to produce what is expected throughout the semester, we unfortunately sacrifice our well-being and the ability to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

Our eyes may be puffy and red and our noses dripping, but we can still make that “A”!

Our education is valuable. If we consider how we compare to so many less fortunate in our own country and around the world, we are truly blessed to be able to learn from experts in any given field. But what value is there in taking classes that few of us will remember, because along with those classes, we are also carrying the course load of four or five other classes, clubs and organizations, sports teams or jobs? Who thought that such a system would be effective? Efficient, yes? Effective in producing over-worked, tired, workaholics who will be job-oriented over-worked, tired, workaholics after graduation? Certainly.

That, we’ve definitely gotten down. The question is how do we take care of ourselves? How do we learn to balance work with relaxation?

This is not a Virginia Wesleyan College problem. This is education throughout the country.