It happens every so often: things are all business as usual, homework is steady but bearable, life is normal. And we begin to think, well, maybe things aren’t so bad, right? And then, we hit a brick wall. Tests from multiple classes all crop up in the same week, maybe with a massive project due around the same time, not to mention all the extracurricular activities we take part in. Suddenly, bedtime gets pushed into the wee hours of the morning, and just the thought of going back to school the next day seems impossible.

That’s just about what happened to me this past week — tests from multiple classes falling on the same Friday, band and musical activities taking up hours over the weekend, and a major research paper due the next Monday. Not to mention the four essays due the same Monday for an application to a program I’m hoping to attend over the summer. And that Monday just happened to be … today.

So, I did feel like I was about to be flattened. The essays, in particular, seemed to be the most stubborn of the lot. I’d been plugging away at them for a good couple weeks now, but with my other activities, reviewing for those tests, and the writing process itself (thinking of ideas, writing drafts, and then discarding most of them), progress seemed to be terribly slow.

Finally, the day before those tests, I made an effort to get things in order. First, I took a deep breath and put everything aside for a few minutes, just to calm down and think clearly. Next, I devoted a few hours to getting that research paper as perfect as I could make it. After I was satisfied with that, I looked over my notes for a few more hours, and got the few hours of sleep that I needed to power through the next day.

I designated that weekend as an essay-writing marathon, beginning Friday afternoon and ending Sunday night. Starting with simply slapping ideas down on paper (or, in this case, on keyboard), I steadily molded those ideas into workable essays, one by one, through the course of Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The essays gradually moved from workable to satisfactory, and from that to something I considered “good” by Sunday morning. By that night, I concluded that I’d put all that I could into those essays.

Clicking “submit” on the assignment interface for my research paper, followed by clicking “submit” for the online application form, was an incredible relief. Knowing that I’d managed to not only survive, but give my top effort to all the things being thrown at me, and, more importantly, that it was over for the time being, was a freeing sensation, a great weight off the shoulders. In the end, writing those essays was a productive experience.

Stressful moments like these happen to all of us; it’s important to keep in mind that with a cool head and a good plan, we can definitely get through it all. We should remember that all the stress will make that final release feel all the more satisfying in comparison. Now, excuse me, please; I’m off to get a proper night’s sleep.