to-do list

So here I am. It's currently 12:57 am and I recently returned from a fun-filled evening at the library. Today was one in a string of very long days. I didn't eat anything resembling a real meal, unless you count the couple pieces of left-over Little Caesar's pizza and the mint brownie+milk that I had to get in the afternoon to make it through the day. I did fit in some fruits and vegetables, but still. I was in class for 7 hours today and had a pre-PA club meeting this evening. I spent nearly all my free time speeding through my take home exam for immigrant and refugee health. It was a doozy. I would wager it took me about 8 hours to get through. 6 pages, single spaced, .5 inch margins, 11 pt times. That was my fifth exam since last Tuesday. It's been a long week.

That brings me to tonight. Here I am, sitting on my bed, 1:03 am, exhausted . . . blogging. I got home and suddenly felt like there was no way I'd be able to fall asleep. My mind is completely occupied with to-do lists. I do feel some relief that all these exams are over, but now I'm thinking about all of the reading and assignments I put off while trying to get through those exams. 50 pages of organic chemistry reading, here I come! I also have a disaster of a bedroom and an overflowing hamper of dirty laundry that needs to be tackled. Sometimes I really wonder how people do it. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed by all I have to do.

At BYU I sometimes feel like everyone is working a bajillion hours a week, going to school full time and getting a 4.0, going on 12 dates a week, training for a marathon AND a triathlon, volunteering with 7 different groups, playing intramural sports, being a domestic goddess, mastering 5 instruments, etc. I think you get my point. I know that is some major hyperbole, but seriously. {ha!}  Remember those facebook groups about BYU from back in the day? I am referring to "I used to be _____ but then I came to BYU" and "BYU- Where your best hasn't been good enough since 1875." Those are both a little dramatic, but truly, how do people find time to do everything? I am shocked and amazed, I tell you. Now on a more positive note. BYU is fabulous. I can't imagine being anywhere else. I love that it can be so ridiculously competitive but so friendly at the same time. I love that people here are so excellent {even though it can be discouraging sometimes} because it encourages me to be better. I love that I am able to push myself so hard and find out what I'm really capable of. When I'm wishing that I had some more free time to do fun things, maybe I can remember that all this hard work is hopefully making me better. Now I just need to figure out how to stop running through my to-do lists so I can get some sleep! :)