On Thursday, I took a walk in campus woods with my lovely Editor-in-Chief Maddie Carr. 

We both talked about the things stressing us out. She’s about to graduate and go to grad school, and junior year has really taken me for a ride. 

I told her that when I’m going through a difficult time or have something I’m dreading doing, I just think about how, whether or not I do the hard thing, the time is going to pass anyway. Maddie agreed. It’s something that helps her, too.

This week difficult. I had my preview for my senior saxophone recital on Thursday, and I wanted to get a lot of practice. But of course, I also had three big assignments, two long stories and a handful of other time consuming tasks. I wasn’t going to have as much time to practice, and I was freaking out about it. 

So, coming out of the weekend, I dreaded what was ahead of me. Then, I took a moment to stop and think: 

This will all be over in less than a week. A week ago doesn’t seem like it was that long ago, so this week will go by just as fast. What happens will happen and there’s nothing I can do about it, but at least it will be over.

And here I am writing this on Friday. Everything has passed and I was right. It did go by fast and I’m not worried about it anymore.

Whether something I’m stressed about is happening in a day, a week, a month or even a semester, this thought process helps me bring myself back to reality. 

I try to think about other difficult times or stressful events in my life, and I realize that now that I’m past them. They seem so distant and insignificant, and I know that someday soon, that’s how I am going to feel about now. 

Having this perspective also helps me when I’m looking forward to something, too. Right now, there is one month until the semester is over. 

Boy, am I excited for that. 

Instead of thinking “oh my gosh I still have four weeks,” I think about what I was doing four weeks ago. Well, four weeks ago we were starting spring break and I feel like that just happened. So now, I can relax and just take the rest of the school year day by day because before I know it, it’s going to be over.

I’ve also used this mindset to help me enjoy the good times when they happen, like when I went to Canada and visited my friends for the first time. I had three days with all of them, and I realized that it was going to go by much quicker than I wanted it to —three days ago was not that long ago. I was then able to just soak it all in and appreciate being with my friends and having these amazing experiences even more.

When I started college, time began to accelerate. The days, weeks and months go by so much quicker than when I was younger. At the time, I got kind of existential about it because I felt like my life was running away from me and I was speeding toward the end of my life.

But, changing my mindset about time helped me overcome those thoughts. It’s easier to live in the moment when I’m not worried about how far away or how soon life events occur. 

Time will pass. And I’ve found peace in that.