Last week, I went to the Table Talk where different Rose Scholars as well as the GRF talked about their different experiences with stress. On campus, there a lot of times where people are stressed out due to academic work, things back home, as well as the uncertainty of the future and it can really affect people. I feel as Cornell students we are constantly between peak performance and overworking ourselves due to our stress levels. This is why in my opinion all-nighters are a trend, as a student some of us have jobs or other extracurriculars that take up the already limited times in our day due to going to lectures. So people, decide to sacrifice sleep to obtain the time that they are not able to get. I feel short term there is nothing wrong with this besides fatigue or exhaustion.

However, long term, I think about how this much stress that is usually consistent in a four year, and for some even eight year academic setting can really affect us as this new generation coming into the real world. Sure as Cornellians’, this university prepares us for the real world in terms of knowledge but what about other things that matter such as people skills. I understand that in some majors such as STEM or engineering to name a few, we treat each other as competitors to beat the curve on exams. But in the real world most positions or career paths encourage collaboration and leadership to make sure goals are met. So, as college students I encourage us to make sure that we are taking care of ourselves and not make college a miserable and stressful experience for four years. Health wise, in the future it may affect us more than we would have ever known. Yes grades are important but let me ask you the reader a question.

Ten years from now will your GPA really matter? Another follow up question. Ten years from now will stressing and depriving yourself of sleep be worth it?