Staying home sick means I miss out on a lot of class, work and extra-curriculars. I was so fed up that last week when I was feeling better — yet nowhere near ready to be back — I dragged my butt out of bed and went to a half day of class.

Now, I’m worse and the word “hospitalization” is being thrown around by my doctors. Really, I can only blame myself.

When I’m healthy, I’m busy. I work three part time jobs, I’m a full- time student and I participate in as many extra-curriculars as I can .

My only free time is occupied with homework. My weekends involve catching up on reading, catching up on a little T.V. and doing other relaxing things I don’t have time for in the week. I’m a person who tries to leave my work responsibilities at work, so I can use my weekends to recharge.

During midterms and finals, my weekends disappear. I spend the majority of my time studying and writing. There’s no time for relaxation. Work and extra-curriculars don’t lighten during test sea- son, so I have to cut into my R&R.

I can’t spend days and days in bed when there is work to be done — though when there isn’t, I’ll happily sleep into the afternoon. If I’m not busy, I feel like I’m being lazy or irresponsible. It’s a feeling I recognize in many other college students.

By college student standards, I’d put myself on the low end of busy. I know so many students who are working multiple part and full time jobs just to keep paying for tuition.

My friends are involved in so much that they have to pick and choose which meetings to miss in favor of other meetings.

We are all stretched thin for time, but I think it’s safe to say we like it this way. We’re able to cram 30 hours of stuff into a 24-hour day. It’s impressive what we can ac- complish.

But, after being thrown back in bed after pushing myself too hard, I have to wonder how healthy this is. Whether you’re physically sick, like me, or mentally exhausted, where do we draw the line between busy and healthy?

Midterms are an especially hard time for us students. Friends of mine live on energy drinks and don’t sleep for days in order to keep up with everything going on. Sure, it’s possible to say, ‘Cut back, you’re doing too much,’ but it’s not really feasible.

Jobs pay for school and rent. School helps us get better jobs and gives us invaluable knowledge to help us in our futures. Extra-curriculars fill our resumes and give us an outlet to prevent insanity from all our other obligations. Everything I’m doing right now is to prepare for my future career.

This is fairly typical among my friends; we stay busy because we are oriented toward preparing for our futures. We know hard work is the only way to achieve goals.

But how much work is too much? That’s the question plaguing me while I cough up my lungs.

There is no single answer. The amount that is too much varies from person to person.

The only wisdom I can leave you with is be careful. Don’t push yourself too hard. I’m definitely for challenging yourself, but don’t go overboard.

With all the stress that sur- rounds us during midterms, I think it’s good to tell people to take a break. It doesn’t have to be a long one; fifteen minutes for a nap here, thirty minutes to surf the net there can keep a person going for a long time.

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of doing it all, but the consequences aren’t worth it. There are consequences to neglecting your- self. And taking care of yourself includes taking a break when you need it.

Kjerstine Trooien is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].