Opinion piece

Stress and depression towards the end of year
The last term of the year is filled with so much stress and depression. The demands from lecturers are unbearable. How can one squeeze all these demands in such a small space of time? It is at times like these when some students feel that they can’t take it anymore and even commit suicide.
It is so hard to focus since there is so much to do. Essays, assignments, tests, you name it, all crumbling in such a small pair of hands. Sleepless nights don’t help either because you won’t be able to focus in lectures the next day. It is a difficult situation because as much as we are scared and nervous about the final exams, we still need to go through the trauma of submitting essay and assignments and writing all those tests. Why do all these things have to be fit in such a small space of time? If it was not for the counselling centre (http://www.ru.ac.za/counsellingcentre) lots of lives would be lost and futures would be shattered. Yes at the end we do cross the bridge if we are lucky enough to escape from all those sharks and crocodiles.
No-one is expecting things to be an easy ride otherwise it won’t be worth doing but at the same one can only handle a certain amount of pressure. Is feeling overloaded unacceptable for a first year student in University? I think it’s not after all this all new and before people make big decisions like leaving the University or anything else, they should give it some time and see where it leads. We all want to be successful in life but is fair to have to suffer so much for success. It would be so good if one could just fly free like a bird, unfortunately we are humans and we just have to deal with whatever that comes our way.
We salute all those heroes that we see out there who have finally reached their goals but believe me when I say “it was not easy to get there”. Perseverance is a good step to success as hard as it is we have to pull through. I thought matric was hard and I will never be able to pull through but look at me now, I am in University. I am stronger than stress and depression and so is everyone else. Soon we will be looking back and saying things were not so bad after all. To all those who couldn’t take it anymore, may their souls rest in peace and to the rest of us we still have along way to go, we just need to hang in there. The way to success may be steep and tough but because everyone is living in order to fulfil certain dreams we will cope with everything that comes on the way. Some things are just meant to be the way they are and they will never change, eventually we will get used to these pressure.