The Best and Worst Thing

Finals.

The best and worst thing that ever happened to us.

Considering I’m in the middle of mine right now, let’s start with why they’re the absolute worst (it hits close to home).

1. They cause you to live an unhealthy lifestyle (what do you mean I can’t sleep for more than two hours tonight?).

2. They all pile up at once, leaving you feeling helpless, wondering what in the world you did the entire semester.

3. They cause anxiety that gets taken to the next level, causing everything else in your life to be amplified to seem twenty times worse than it actually is.

4. They cause you to forget other obligations entirely (oh, actually I can’t buy that coffee because I have now over-drafted my bank account).

5. They give you wrinkles (personal problem?).

6. They don’t help with the “get fit before you go home for Christmas and see all your old friends” thing. Is that a thing?

7. They make or break your grades, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

8. They cause the start of December to not be as filled with holiday joy as it could be.

9.They bring to the surface “awkward stage” old photos of you on Facebook, circa 2009, for all of your friends to see.

10. They cause you to re-evaluate your life entirely.

(Segway).

Why they’re (kind of, maybe, might be stretching it to make myself feel better) the best.

1. They teach you that running hard on a treadmill for 20 minutes can help get out all built up anger and/or frustration from the day.

2. They cause you to look back at your study habits, to re-evaluate if you really did try your hardest. They teach you that procrastination sucks.

3. They force you to call your mom multiple times a day in panic over everything in your life, only to realize how truly lucky you are to have someone on the other end of the phone give a shit about your exaggerated problems.

4. They make you realize just how valuable doing your laundry, keeping track of funds and grocery shopping and prepping really is in your day to day sanity.

5. They teach you that true beauty lies within (these wrinkles that I’ll have later in life, it’s called hard work).

6. They force you to evaluate yourself under stress. How much can you take? Will you eat that entire pizza or just two slices?

7. They give you a chance to kick ass on projects and tests, proving to yourself and your professors that you are capable of great things.

8. They allow you to not get tired of Christmas music because you don’t have time to listen to it until mid-December anyway.

9. They bring to the surface “awkward stage” old photos of your friends on Facebook, circa 2009, for you to see.

10. They cause you to re-evaluate your life entirely.

See what I did there (number 10 is the best and worst)?

They cause you to realize that even though tasks seem impossible, you can do it. They cause you to understand that you are capable, that you can push through it all. They cause you to believe in yourself, to be proud of yourself.

They cause you to look at what you’ve done, and say “yep, I did that and I’m still alive and well to show it.”