It’s too much.
It’s. All. Just. Too. Much.
We just finished midterms, had two days for fall break, and now we’re right back into it. Into what exactly? Well, the aftermath of Homecoming Week at Utah Tech University and all the events and chaos that come with it.
This semester seems like it’s gone by so quickly, yet it just keeps dragging on. While there have been several stories about the beauty and light of Homecoming, the ugly truth is sometimes it’s too much.
It’s a busy time of year for everyone, but as students, it feels like we barely even got a chance to catch our breath before we were thrown back into all the chaos. If you’re like me, you didn’t get a chance to catch your breath at all.
Maybe I do that to myself, but I’m struggling with this year as a whole. The stress of Homecoming Week, in particular, does nothing but distract me from the constant noise and guilt in my head.
Bicycle events, senior games and a 50-year class reunion on campus were all hosted in St. George within just a few weeks of each other. That’s a lot to expect of a town that can barely provide for the people that actually live here.
It’s not just these events though. Snowbirds have been coming down to their winter homes to escape colder temperatures, and there was an eclipse that happened a few weeks ago that people were rushing down here to see, which resulted in traffic and more law enforcement driving about.
I drive to and from campus with a 30-minute drive each way almost every day of the week, and the ever-growing rate of traffic makes the commute less than tolerable, to say the least.
The influx of people, with both temporary and permanent residents, also makes it unnecessarily hard to find off-campus housing, let alone home rentals or affordable apartments for those of us who want to move out of our parent’s house.
All of this leads to students feeling overwhelmed. I know that all these little things will pass eventually, but the stress has been causing some students to either drop classes after midterms or stop going to classes altogether. I know because I did that. I dropped a class halfway through the semester, and I’m still struggling to lift myself out of the hole I’ve found myself in.
Even while feeling down, students still show up to events like the Miss Utah Tech pageant, the football game and even Halloween that has Chaos booked, along with others planning their own parties.
I’d be lying if I said this semester wasn’t hard. I would be lying if I said this whole year wasn’t difficult for me personally. Working a part-time job while maintaining a status as a full-time student and having to pay tuition out of pocket is hard. I’m struggling to keep afloat in the sea of expectations and events, and both my grades and mental health show it. My physical health is starting to show it too, and it’s difficult to participate in these events when I can barely participate in keeping myself healthy.
I think it’s fun and exciting to be a part of something, but the solution is that there needs to be more spacing between events so students aren’t trying to scramble around trying to pick everything back up.
It’s overwhelming and it sucks, and while Homecoming should be a time to enjoy myself and really take in a sense of pride for my university, it’s so hard to ground myself while all these different things have my mind up in the air.
I’m tired, and I know other students are too.
It’s too much.
It’s. All. Just. Too. Much.
