For the fortunate, the first two weeks of each semester are often the easiest.
After moving in and settling down in Buffalo, battling the two-hour wait at the bookstore and navigating a path to classes, life gets easier. Courses do not seem too overwhelming, professors do not assign a lot of reading and most time can be put into reuniting with friends and celebrating on the weekends.
But for me, life sucked.
Every semester I agree to work at the bookstore before my classes, between my classes and even after my classes during their busiest time period, suitably enough called 'rush.'
After ringing out what felt like thousands of textbooks throughout the week and dealing with impatient students that I wanted to throw books at, I had to keep up with life outside of the chaos.
But taking 23 credit hours and working at The Spectrum did not leave me much spare time after work and my classes had finally come to an end each day.
After finishing my homework late at night, I would begin my day again at a horrific 6 a.m. timeslot with a new day and more pressure. I became sleep deprived, stressed out and miserable, each time telling myself that my hectic schedule would soon end and I could finally sleep, relax and find other suitable ways to relieve my stress.
After coming down with a cold and simply skipping my classes to get what sleep I could, I decided to rely on the people I loved the most to get me through what I referred to as my own personal hell.
It's funny, but sometimes when you're at a low point, you realize just how lucky you are to have surrounded yourself with amazing friends and people who care about your happiness.
Even the smallest gestures, a smile, a hug, a horribly crafted joke or a visit to the bookstore with a green apple blow-pop and encouraging words, made my day easier to handle and cheered me up, if only a little.
What I have realized these past weeks is sometimes I just need to accept the help offered to me from other people, especially when I need that shoulder to lean on and a friendly hug to make me feel better. Everyone needs those certain people who they can count on, no matter how bad the day is.
They are the people who will be most honest with you, who you can call at any time of the day, who will be your human crutch when you drink way too much on the weekends, who will roast marshmallows with you and make you horribly titled CDs, and most importantly, they are the people who will lift you up when you are feeling down.
I have formed some truly meaningful bonds these past semesters. I realize that some friendships will not last forever, but others will and those are the ones that matter when you look back over your time at school.
So I suppose if I search really hard, I can find the silver lining to the terrible start of my semester. I have learned to embrace my friends and always savor my friendships and appreciate them for what they are and what they will be.
Without my friends, I would be lost in a sea of textbooks and misery.
E-mail: anfinch@buffalo.edu
