So who else is behind in their reading?

Yes, it's the second week of class and I'm already vastly behind in my reading. But I've come to a conclusion; a wonderfully liberating conclusion I'm sure many of my peers adapt to: Who cares?

Who cares? Who cares if I'm behind when it's an absolutely gorgeous day? Who cares if I'm behind when there's the Michigan game this weekend and I'm positive I won't get much done before I leave?

This is not to say that I don't care about school. I care very much about going to class and learning. I care about listening to my professors and being moved, being educated, being motivated. What I do not care to do is stress out. Two years have shown me that too much of that goes on here.

One thing we shouldn't forget is that this mix of success and failure, pep rallies and hangovers, is a gift.

It's this big, gold jumping rope we whip around enthusiastically. We jump and jump, get tired and somehow forget why we started jumping. We take for granted our legs and feet propelling us upward and our hands, tightly gripping the handles.

We lose sight of the jump, the push that made us decide, "Yes, this is where I want to be! This is what I want to be doing!" We lose that kindergarten zeal – the need to jump as high and as fast as we can. We end up just jumping.

Yes, getting into a good grad school is key. And what business major wouldn't love a sweet deal from a Fortune 500 company? These things are very important. But so is living. So is spending time with friends and realizing that no matter how much we gripe and moan, there is life here at Notre Dame.

The other night I gave up hanging out with friends to read up on the Great Depression. I patted myself on the back for being so morally upstanding and responsible. I fell asleep on the couch after an hour. What did I accomplish? An hour's-worth of reading for a class I'm still behind in? What's the point?

The point is I'm not going to do that anymore. If I have a test the next day, or if I'm on the second of a ten-page paper at 3 a.m., believe me, I'm not leaving my room. But I refuse to give up my life to study.

I care a great deal about grades and like any student here, I want to do the best I can. But I'm by no means a GPA junkie. I have no idea what rank I am, and I don't want to know.

There are thousands of different ways to be an educated individual. Many people think all there is to it is to read, read, read. I emphatically disagree. I know that that's not what college is all about. That's not what life is all about. Can you really find yourself, your passions, make the greatest friends in the world while staring into a Calculus book?

The solution to this quandary is simple. Every once in a while, slow your jumping. Steady your pace. Think of the first time you knew that big, golden rope was yours. Just remember why you're jumping. Remember your legs, your feet, your hands. And just jump around.

• Jump Around