March is coming to a close, midterms are finished, drop day has passed, and we are in the final stretch of spring semester 2012.

One would think that after midterms, things might slow down for a couple of weeks before picking back up again, but that just hasn’t been the case. If anything, things are officially in full swing. Teachers are trying to cram everything they had planned for us to do in these last few weeks. Assignments, tests, papers, projects—you name it, it’s due.

For me, I can’t seem to stay caught up. When things stack up, they get the better of me: staying on top of all of my school work, making good grades, having a part-time job and just trying to spend time with my friends or family for a little bit to keep my sanity. And I’m not new to this whole college thing either. I even cut my hours back at work this semester because I knew it was going to be a tough one, but I never thought that even the mere two days I’m working would be too much.

Overhearing classmates, as well as talking with my friends, let’s me know I’m not alone. Going to school is stressful for everyone. And, finding the perfect balance between doing everything we are expected to do and not losing our minds is complicated. Some outsiders might make the argument that we have multiple holiday breaks, but I know that every break I’ve ever had, I had some sort of assignment to do before we returned or a test the week we got back.

With spring break just around the corner, I can’t help but hope for a break without schoolwork to worry about. We could all use a few days to simply put school on the back-burner and relax, so we can return rejuvenated and ready to finish up the semester. Not only would professors be doing us a favor by not giving us work to do over the spring break, but they’d be giving themselves time to relax as well.

As stressed as others and myself are, we just have to power through it and keep in mind that there are only a few more weeks left of the semester. Do whatever works for you. Get things finished on time, balance everything the best you can and before you know it, it will be May and all the hard work and the unfortunate stress that comes with it will pay off.