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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 30, 1998)
Everybody hurts Giving up fight against stress is not the answer exactly what you’ll do when you get out is anyone’s guess. So much time has been spent dealing with actually being in college that you haven’t had time to give a thought to what's going to go on once it’s over. If it ever is. Graduation might be another of those myths like the Loch Ness monster, Bigfoot and “The Good Life.” It’s Friday, and a couple of your friends are going out drinking. They don’t ask you, and even if they did, you just don’t have the time. There’s school work, job work and so much other crap, you’re going to go crazy. There’s only a couple of people you’re attracted to - you work with both of them, naturally - and you don’t know if either of them is inter ested in you. Even if they were, you really doubt they’d have time to fit you into their busy lives, and even if they did, you aren’t sure you could fit them into yours. You’re working two jobs, consid ering a third, and taking 15 credit .-y... hours. ' .• ";1|K' In the job where you’re a grunt, ? you hate the way the bosses treat you. It’s getting more stressful, and you’re not sure you can take much more. You’d quit if only you could afford to. In the job where you have some authority, the people who work below you don’t like you, the people above you aren’t happy with the work you’re doing, the people in other departments wonder how you got put in charge, and you’re just try ing to make ends meet. Some people don’t show up to work. Some people are cranky at work. Some people want to blame you for the problems in their lives. Some people want to take out their problems on you. No one wants you to make them feel better - they’re sure you’ll only make things worse. So you’re stuck picking up the slack, trying to build the Eiffel Tower from a couple of toothpicks and bottle of Elmer’s Glue. You know you have an apartment, because you keep getting bills for it, but you’ll be damned if you know what it looks Idee. You usually stum ble into it with die lights off, and it hasn’t really been worth your time to turn die lights on anyway. You know the route to your bed by heart, because it’s the only path you walk in the place. Even in die dark, though, you can hear the damn “rose-col ored” carpeting taunting you. They didn’t tell you it was “rose” until die day you were moving in, and you still resent it at least a little. It seems like life’s just about as problematic as it can get. You’ve honestly had dreams about climbing to the top of the Capitol with a sniper rifle and just venting some random aggression. The worst part is that you haven’t felt much guilt about those dreams. Much more of this and you’ll go crazy. Breathe, Fix what you can. Stop worrying about what you can’t If it seriously seems like you’re going to snap (and believe me, I know that feeling all too well), take a deep step back, and put it all into perspective. Consider this my open-ended plea to the people who, like me, are on the verge of collapse: My friends and my colleagues, my columnists and my bosses, my folks mid my cat Topher, Lupus and Willis; Lovely Lady Erin, Mad Man Matthew, the Fork and foe J-Dogg; Gibs and Joe X; Mom, Dad and even temperamen tal little Marx. And more than that, you, foe stu dent who made it all foe way down here in this column. Each and every one of us is stressed out, and there are only three things we can do. The first is to breathe. A little relaxation will put it all into perspective. The second is to ask for help. The world can’t be beaten single handedly. Our ancestors came down from foe trees and banded together; for survival. Modem life is pushing us apart. Cling to those important to you. Refuse to let them give up, and they’ll do foe same for you, should you need it. Friendship is more important than anything else in this world. And most importantly, never fin ish foe game before it’s time. Giving up, quitting - it ain’t foe answer, folks. Don’t let The Man get you down. We will survive. CLIFF HICKS is a senior news-editorial \ and English major and the Daily Nebraskan opinion editor. Stress isn’t incurable. Your homework’s building up around you. You haven’t read the 12 books for the English class, the read ing material for the poli sci classes is so dull you use it to put yourself to sleep at night, and you think, maybe, you missed a test or two somewboe ' along the hue in, say, half of your classes. .- ' , * The bills just keep coming. The folks who deliver your mail have adjusted their schedules so they can leave mail without you seeing, so that they don’t have to face your wrath. Everyone wants your money. The cable company wants your money, the credit card companies want your money, the power company wants your money, the telephone company wants your money, your landlord wants your money and, come to think ofit,sodoyou. Because you haven’t got any. You’ve been eating ramen noo dles and ice water for three weeks, trying to string yourself along until the end of the month when payday comes, which, you hope, will be enough to pay at least one of the bill collectors off and buy you the next month’s supply of ramen noodles. It’s either that or another month of buy ing food on your gas station credit card. . iour roommate is m even more debt than you. He’s had trouble pay ing rent over the past few months, so you’ve been piclang up the majority of the bills, just so you don’t get evicted or arrested. But you’re still a few months behind. Your roommate must owe you almost a thousand dol lars right now. Your cat turned temperamental and scratched you up pretty good last nnik U«n UamU ** wuvn. viurru. He hasn’t been that nice to you lately, and you should have taken him to die vet two weeks ago for a shot, but there’s that money thing again. Most of your friends have meandered out of your life, and it’s not their fault really that they’re becoming successful, starting relation ships, marrying, getting laid every night, traveling across the country and generally enjoying being alive. The only friends who aren’t loving every minntp of their life are just about as miserable as you are. They don’t have time to Call, they don’t have time to hang out, and they can’t really spare a minute to drop you an e mail. They won’t let you help them, and they don’t have time to help you. Your parents wonder why you don’t return their calls. They haven’t seen you in months, and they’re starting to worry that something might have happened. At least, that’s what Mom tells' your answering machine. She worries about you, she tells you. Your mom knows die words to the machine’s message by heart Sooner or later, you’re hoping to graduate, but ' * \ v V v • v ■ ’ I Eulliam Journalism Fellowships Graduating college seniors are invited to apply for the" 26th annual Pulliam Journalism Fellowships. We will grant 10-week summer internships to 20 journalism or liberal arts majors in the August 1998 June 1999 graduating classes. Previous internship or part-time experience at a newspaper is desired. Winners will receive a $5,250 stipend and will work at either The Indianapolis Star and The Indianapolis News or The Arizona Republic. Eariy-admissions application postmark deadline is Nov. 15,1998. By . Dec. 15,1998, up to five eariy-admissions winners will be notified. All other entries must be postmarked by March 1,1999. To request an application packet, write: Russell B. Pulliam Fellowships Director The Indianapolis News P.O. Box 145 Indianapolis, IN 46206-0145 ON TIME WTTh | Self-paced courses, flexible scheduling THAT MEETS YOUR NEEDS For a free catalog or to register: I 2175 I 2. Visit our w. unl.edu/conted/disted > 3. Visit our ottice at NCCE, 33rd and t;M I INVITATION To Prospective Dental & Dental Hygiene Students Saturday, Oct 31,1988 8:00- 11:30a.m. . Program with Tours of the Facilities. Join (Is far Lunch! - I ' Ceglstratlon/lnfo: (402) 472-13«3 or 13S4 n University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry : 40th & Holdrege Streets Lincoln, Nebraska 68583-0740 . • - — i' - ---- ..... .
