First Day of Classes

Today was my first round of classes for the new semester.  Besides the horrible weather it wasn't really that bad of a first day.  We mostly went through the motions, establishing all of the different course requirements and objectives.  The one consistent thing about first days is that you always feel so overwhelmed, like there is no way that you will be able to do all of the coursework for the semester.  It seems like so much when you look at the syllabus and see all of the readings, assignments, and due dates, and it can be quite intimidating.  I have to try and stop myself from feeling overwhelmed every semester, because I know that as long as I keep up with my work and hand everything in on time that I will be fine.  I sort of accomplished this feat today, but I still found myself a little intimidated by all of the upcoming reading, assignments, and observation hours ahead of me. 

A lot of people probably share my feelings of being overwhelmed on first days when it comes to semesters of school.  I was even discussing the topic with a couple of my classmates who admitted that they were not looking forward to all of the work this semester.  I attempted to reassure them that we all survived a very difficult semester last fall, and that as long as we stay on top of things everything will be finished.  As humans I think that we are easily overwhelmed when we see all of the tasks required of us over a long period of time; especially when they are grouped together.  Closely clumping assignments makes them seem impossible, and we easily forget that we have 15 weeks in the semester to accomplish all of the goals laid out before us.  The important thing to do when you have numerous tasks is to calmly evaluate the situation and take it one step at a time.  Sure, sometimes it will seem like there is no way that you will ever get everything done.  There are times when you literally can't, and if that's the case so what? Is life really going to cease if you don't finish every homework assignment, or project, or duty at your job? No it won't , and as long as you work really hard you'll usually get everything done.  Don't stress when facing situations like the beginning of a semester, but instead take the rational approach that you will do one thing at a time and work hard, not worrying that you won't get every single thing done.  We are human beings, not machines, and we all have our limits, so don't stress.  Just work hard and do the best you can when faced with numerous challenging tasks.