In the hearts and minds of college students everywhere, there are two words that inspire immediate feelings of the utmost fear and dread more than any others: Midterms Week. There’s no getting around it; midterms are hard. Sometimes you end up feeling like your life has turned into one giant coffee pot and a million piles of notes surrounding you as you desperately try to remember which flashcards correspond to which class.
I am no exception. The stress gets to me. Deep down, I know that it’s only one week, and I know that if I study hard I will do well. Despite that, sometimes it’s hard to not become overwhelmed. This semester specifically, I was feeling the pressure. Midterms week happened to line up with the arrival of our good friend Hurricane Joaquin, and as I sat in my room studying, listening to the raindrops pelt against my window, I began to feel like my study guides were mocking me. I needed to get out of my room.
Randomly, a friend texted me and said that he and two others were about to bike down to the river, and he invited me to come along. Initially, I thought he was insane. The idea of biking to the beach in the middle of a torrential downpour kind of made me question his mental stability, but as I stared at the mountains of textbooks all over my floor, I decided that a bike ride in the rain sounded pretty good. I have to admit, that was one of the best decisions I made this semester. We rode all the way to the river, and we were so drenched by the time we got there, that we decided to go swimming, clothes and all. We rode our bikes back to campus, making absolutely sure to aim for every puddle in our path, and we ended the night with a lot of pictures and a great story to tell.
Sometimes, you just need to close the textbooks and have an adventure. Your flashcards will still be there waiting for you when you get back! Yes, midterms are daunting, but the next time you start to feel overwhelmed by schoolwork and studying and exams, give yourself a break. Go dance in the rain. I’ve realized that those experiences often turn into the best memories you’ll have in college.
