Graduation is coming up fast. In just 16 days from the day that I am writing this column, I will be walking the stage with a bunch of my friends and many more graduates. Senior year was a very special year for me, and while I am sad it is coming to an end, I am also excited to graduate. I have made so many fantastic memories this year and during my previous years at the University of Pittsburgh.
When I got back to Pittsburgh in August, I was having a fantastic time. I went out with my friends and met some more people. Shortly after I got back to Pittsburgh, my parents broke the news to me that my grandpa, who lived in the Czech Republic, had passed away. This was obviously very upsetting for me to hear, and I had a super long day ahead of me, along with classes starting soon. In the end, I had my friends by my side, and even though my family lives back in Philadelphia, we all supported one another. My parents went back to the Czech Republic not long after his passing, and I still wish to this day that I could have seen him more.
Even though the beginning of senior year had a very interesting and odd start, it started to get better. I spent my days going to classes, working and hanging out with the people I love. I even formed relationships with new people in the fall semester — one being someone I randomly met in a bar and many others from WPTS Radio, one of the places I work.
Fall semester was full of building more relationships with new people and further developing ones with people that I already knew. I think this is beautiful. I became a lot more outgoing throughout my years at this university, but senior year was my most outgoing year. My first piece of advice for anyone still in their undergrad is to be outgoing, do things you never thought you would do and talk to random people. You never know what relationships can come out of it.
The start of the spring semester was also interesting. I had to get surgery during the second week of January, and I missed the first week of classes. Thankfully, the recovery was quick, but it was odd getting back to Pittsburgh later than I originally thought I would. I knew this semester was going to be a very busy one. I got an internship, but I was also working two other jobs while being a student. Not only that, but my band started booking more shows, so practices started to appear more often on my schedule.
I knew that in the end, I would be able to create a balance. However, towards the end of the semester, everything started to get a little bit stressful. I knew I enjoyed being busy, but once spring break hit, I started to feel the burnout. Spring break threw me off a lot because, while it was nice to have, I got much busier after it. I started applying to a lot of jobs around the beginning of March. These applications, subsequent interviews, classwork and my jobs became a lot. I do feel a lot freer now, and I am thankful for this because graduation is sneaking up soon.
Creating a nice work-life balance is something that is very important as a college student. If you feel like you have too much going on, it is always OK to give yourself a break. We all need them as college students. I understand the feeling of having a lot on your plate — maybe a little too much. A lot of my friends say to me, “Irene, you are always doing something.” This is true — I feel like I have something every single day, and I can never catch a break. I have learned to start giving myself more breaks — something that has definitely helped a lot. I love having plans, and I love to be busy at times, but it really started to hit me during the spring semester.
Another word of advice is to work around the burnout. You are tough, and you can do it. You may have so many things happening at once, but if I can fight through, so can you. You always have people to lean on for support, and if you need to rant to someone about your insane schedule, someone will always be there to listen. Senior year can get crazy when applying to jobs or even applying to grad school, but stay strong. There are many people who have gone through the stress of senior year, and there are many people who will go through that feeling of stress with you!
Irene likes to write about music, mental health and more. You can email her at [email protected].