A College Student's Relaxing Weekend

Earlier this past week, the evening conversations with my roommates mostly mirrored that of every week prior: we all had a lot of work to do, and we were all stressed about it. What stood out about this week was that we had a weekend trip to a lake house to look forward to. This gave us ambition and endurance: I’m so excited for this weekend, we said. We’ve just got to push through and make it to the weekend. The lake house will be so relaxing.

Saturday morning came and I allowed myself to sleep in a bit before rushing to submit an assignment and then begin packing for the trip. Out of the three tote bags I packed, the heaviest one was—unsurprisingly—my school bag, weighed down by computers, chargers, my glasses, a notebook, a book for my book club, and a thicker book for one of my classes. I scrolled through my personal, school, and work emails as I coordinated pick up times with my friends over text, and then quickly tidied up my room and bathroom. Besides packing, these chores were no different than what I’d typically do on a Saturday morning, but the excitement of the lake house gave it a new sense of anticipation.

Despite our hopes for a restful weekend away, our obligations came with us. Our arrival and departure times were bookended by calls, meetings, and prior engagements we had to accommodate for. In the car ride to the lake house, I caught up on reading for my upcoming book club meeting. Over dinner that first night, my friends and I discussed when we’d get work done, and on Sunday, we spent the time between breakfast and lunch catching up on work — sending emails, applying to jobs, and submitting assignments. We eventually made it out to the dock for swimming and kayaking, but even then the books and iPads followed us there.

That being said, this weekend wasn’t just an off-site study session on the pretense of a vacation. I had a truly amazing, wonderful weekend. I got to spend meaningful time with close friends, experience a part of North Carolina I had never been to, and fully immerse myself in the last days of summer. From my kayak, I watched the first hints of fall color the trees while enjoying the warmth of the water on a hot day. Sharing that moment with friends was a treasured pause, even if it was brief.

Without taking away from how much I enjoyed that time with friends, what stood out to me was how fleeting the feeling of relaxation was. The stress barely left me. Even as I tried to disconnect from work and fully appreciate the lake, the back of my mind was occupied by looming assignments and a to-do list that only ever grows. Especially as seniors balancing coursework, internships, part-time jobs, extracurriculars, networking, and figuring out post-grad life, the work-life balance feels less like a delicate scale and more like a landslide. Proper sleep is a luxury, meals are eaten while multitasking, and catching up with friends is another thing to squeeze into the day (yesterday, a friend and I had to send screenshots of our Google Calendars to find time to FaceTime!). And that’s that I feel lucky to have a humanities workload; I know my STEM and medical friends often have it worse.

A friend recently pointed out something we both agreed on: while much appreciated, wellness days and long weekends rarely feel like actual breaks; they’re often spent playing catch-up, trying to regain ground on the countless tasks we’ve fallen behind on because there’s not enough hours in the day to complete everything that needs to be done. This is, of course, part of the college experience we all navigate—generations before us have managed it, and one day I’m sure we’ll look back on these days with a sense of pride and nostalgia. For now, I think it’s important to consider of how near-constant stress and exhaustion can affect our physical and mental well-being. Finding a better balance between academic rigor and taking care of ourselves is definitely something to be mindful of.

On our rush back to Chapel Hill to arrive in time for meetings and work, we drove past a farm where miniature fluffy horses were peacefully grazing grass. Immediately, my roommate safely made a U-turn and pulled the car over. We ran over to the horses and spent some time with them, petting and talking to and taking photos of them. It was a really lovely way to end the weekend. Free time as a college student is a fleeting thing, but when it does appear, we make the most of it.