Welcome back, returning and new Pioneers! We have made it through the first week of classes! This semester may look different for many of us, as it appears we have finally reached “normalcy,” but that does not mean all our stressors have gone away.

A new semester and returning to a city-campus environment may be filling you with energy and the preparation to take on the rest of the year. Or, you may already be feeling completely drained and ready to throw in the towel. And that is totally normal.

Transitioning from four months of no academic rigor, if you did not take summer classes, to several classes, clubs, and jobs, all while trying to balance a social life and take care of yourself physically and mentally is a lot. We are naturally resistant to change. It can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to establish and settle into a new routine, but that does not mean that it is impossible. 

We are not going to act like some encouraging words in one mere article are enough to get through the entirety of college because they are not. College is difficult. It is extremely difficult, and there is no getting around that fact. It is why a college degree is so valuable and not just a fake one that comes with a frame at the dollar store. 

It can be so easy to be consumed by all the work, the stress, and the early morning classes that lie ahead of you. It is completely normal to constantly contemplate dropping out, but we encourage you to push through.

It is important to remind yourself often why you came here in the first place and what your end goal is. Graduation may feel and seem impossible at times, and the next time this happens, you can either let it beat you down, or you can turn that fear and those negative thoughts into fuel. So the next time your professor adds another weekly assignment onto your three already or when project deadlines become closer and closer, know that you can rise to the occasion. Know that you can keep going.

Also remember that you are not alone in this academic, social, physical, mental battle alone. Everytime you go to class, you are in a room full of others trying to figure out life just like you. Lean on your friends and family, reach out to your professors and advisors, make an appointment at the counseling center. 

You got this, Pioneers. Show them what you can do.