We all care about our education. That is why we are at college, so we can become professionals and enter the workforce with confidence and a sense of job security in our respective fields. We surround ourselves with people who believe in us, professors who want us to excel, and students who can relate to our goals. We are a campus of people who look beyond the present and into the future.

But, while preparing for the future can be a good thing, it can also prevent us from living in the present. It is hard sometimes to separate the importance of our tasks, so we end up worrying about things that may not be so significant in the long run. With midterms looming, this becomes even harder. Midterms are one thing that do affect our future, particularly the future of our classes. And, for most of us, midterms can be a big stressor.

A, B, C, D, F. During midterms there is a sort of scramble to see how good we have to do on the next test and how many points we can afford to lose on the next paper to do well. But how effective is this panic?

I am incredibly guilty of this. As soon as my grades start to drop, I grab a calculator and my grading scales and I crunch the numbers. Unfortunately, I usually end up finding no solution to how my potential grades will look. It is a flurry of worry and sometimes it is hard to get out of this vicious cycle that makes you anxious about your midterms.

The internal battle between staying up one more hour to study or actually going to bed before midnight is raging. But, I have found that, amongst the rubble of paperwork, you have to find time to live worry-free in the present. I find taking a couple hours a day to spend some time for myself and stop worrying about my upcoming tests really reduces my panic factor and it makes it seem like my homework is more manageable.

Sometimes it is hard to separate midterms and homework as just tasks rather than our entire lives. But, remembering to live in the present and forcing yourself to keep healthy study habits during midterms can greatly reduce the anxiety many of us feel during this time of the year. So, while you are facing your bubble sheets and gnawing the ends of your number two pencils this week, just remember you can only do the best you can and, in the end, no matter how much panic you are feeling in the present, doing the best you can is all that is really going to matter in the future.

Amanda Gibson can be contacted at [email protected].