Sometimes you just have weeks that are a bit less than stellar. For me, that was last week and in all honesty it wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t one thing that set it off but instead a combination of instances that had built up. I’ve heard the term « sophomore slump » before and I’ve always heard it defined as laziness academically. For me, I think mine is coming in quite different terms. I honestly don’t have time during the week for anything of an unproductive or lazy nature (y’all saw that in yesterdays agenda organization post), I am in a sense going full force weekend to weekend. My « sophomore slump » revolves around how hectic this semester is becoming. Being crazy busy, a perfectionist, and stressed pretty frequently, my sophomore slump is in terms of my energy. By Friday, I am running on empty. Last week isn’t the best representation of how my semester has been thus far but it’s the truth. I ended up having two quizzes and two tests last week, I was tired, I had a bunch of meetings, my friendships felt a bit off, I was spending more time in the library than I care to admit, and on top of all of that somehow half of my voice decided to take a break. (As life tends to even out…this week has been great!) So far my semester really has been awesome don’t let me being real with y’all give you the wrong idea. Being a sophomore is very different from being a freshman in the very best way. Living on my sorority hall has been a blast, I am genuinely enjoying some of my classes, and I am meeting loads of new people as well as becoming closer friends with some people I already knew. However, I think this slump is teaching me something. The biggest realization I’ve had thus far is that I really need to stop letting my grades and school assignments attempt to define me. I’ve known this, this isn’t any new information, but it is something I need to take to heart. I have always been a perfectionist when it comes to school but when you go to a school surrounded by other perfectionists and academic and extra curricular overachievers it can be especially difficult. Sometimes I feel like failure here is making a B and it really shouldn’t be seen that way since Furman is so academically rigorous. I am super lucky to go to a college where everyone is so motivated and driven because that attitude really does transfer through the student body but sometimes it can be overwhelming and leave you feeling like you could do a lot better, make better grades, or be more involved. The only problem? When you are doing your very best that is all that you can do causing this mindset of academic excellence to be overwhelming. As long as I am doing the best I can do then I really shouldn’t compare myself and my grades to everyone around me. This is by no means an attempt to make an excuse for lower grades (I haven’t even gotten any grades back yet) but instead a hopeful shift in mindset that I thought could be helpful to share. My parents have been telling me this for years, especially encouraging me to throw fun experiences into school when I answer their question of « what did you do fun this weekend » with « I got ahead on homework. » In no ones world (unless they are incredibly passionate about their classes) should thinking of getting ahead on school work be a fun thing to do on the weekend. There comes a point when caring about your grades translates to obsessing. I can’t control what the teachers put on the test or how they like my responses on assignments so all I can do is my best and hope it is good enough. As the weeks continue to get busy (which they definitely are, yay for all of my tests occurring in the same weeks) I hope to continue to realize that when I feel in a slump to step back and know that I am more than the grade at the top of an assignment. I really hope y’all don’t interpret this in the wrong way and realize that I really do love Furman and the opportunity I have to be here but that stress is something that can completely consume me and I am sure some of y’all can relate (my reason for sharing these thoughts)!