Photo by Tony Tran on Unsplash

Nobody Told Me Final Year Would Feel Like This

Some days, final year squeezes everything out of you

Yesterday started with a simple plan.

Submit an assignment. Hand in two chapters of my project. Go back to the hostel.

Simple.

Or so I thought.

The first challenge was the waiting. We needed to see someone, but we couldn’t reach him. Nobody knew if waiting would be worth it, but we stayed anyway. Minutes turned into hours, and just when it began to feel pointless, we finally got through.

Then came another surprise.

Before he could attend to us, there were course forms that needed to be sorted. So we sat down and helped. Only after that did he turn his attention to us.

As if that wasn’t enough, I spent the day battling a toothache that tested every bit of my patience. The pain spread from my tooth to my ear, my jaw, and even my head. Concentrating became difficult, but the work wasn’t going to wait.

After we were finally attended to, I still had project work to finish. By the time I was done, it was late, and the buses had stopped coming.

So, I walked.

Tired. Mentally drained.

I walked until I finally found a bus and made it back to the hostel.

Final year doesn’t care if you’re tired, overwhelmed, or in pain. The deadlines keep coming.

It has pushed me in ways I never expected. The pressure is different. The stress is different. Even the exhaustion feels different. My final year has been showing me signs and wonders I did not ask for.

Somewhere between sorting course forms, battling a toothache, and searching for a bus, I stopped thinking about everything that was left to do. My only focus was finishing what I came for and making it back to the hostel.

People say final year is easy.

Mine has taught me something different.