Believe it or not, spring is here!  While it still feels like winter in Ohio and other states of the North, the season of spring officially arrived one week ago with the equinox on March 20th.

With the conclusion of spring break, college students everywhere head into one of the most hectic times of the year.  Spring exams are approaching.  Papers, proposals, and theses must be submitted for evaluation.  Fraternities, sororities, clubs, and other extracurricular organizations are organizing for their final events of the year.  Spring symbolizes new life, but the pressures of school during this time can bring many students to the breaking point of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion.

This spring marks the first time in sixteen years that I enter this time of year not as a student.  While I am enjoying a new perspective on the season, I remember the anxiety I have felt as a student in past years, and I continue to watch friends and family deal with similar anxieties.  I find myself asking, what was it all worth?  Was that energy put to good use?  Have I reaped the rewards that graduation has promised?  As I move toward graduate school, what will it mean to put myself before the same pressures next year?

As I reflect further upon these questions, I invite you to share your own experiences.  Whether through school, work, or both, do you experience performance-related anxiety and stress?  Are there seasons where your workload seems immense?  How do you prepare yourself to work through such situations?