Life Out There (Stress) by Nadia Lawand (Nov. ’01)
“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37
At this time of the year many college students are halfway through the semester. This means two things: midterms and the end of semester crunch coming fast. For all of us, this is an extremely stressful and busy time. Between writing papers, doing assignments, and studying — time for anything else is hard to find. A big problem during exam time is our tendency to put our friends, family, and even God aside. When we are stressed and have no time, why is it we put the people who are closest to us aside?
It is God who gives us the strength to work hard, to study, and to do our best in life. And it is God who gives us the opportunity to go to college and to educate ourselves. It is our friends and family who support us and help us during these times. We need to keep these things in mind even when push comes to shove and we need to study for the big exam.
It is with God that things are possible. At such a time when we are stressed about school, we cannot forget what is most important to us. Spending a few minutes praying, an hour on Saturday at Vespers, and waking up Sunday morning for liturgy will keep our mind on God and give us the strength to do well.
For many of us, school is away from home, therefore away from our church. This shouldn’t be an excuse to put God aside. There are so many things we can do to stay close to God when we are away. First we can find out what the closest Orthodox church is near the school. If that doesn’t work out, we can try to organize a place for Orthodox students in the school to get together at certain times to pray. Now if all else fails, we have our Bible’s and prayer books to keep us close to God. Simply putting aside time each day to pray and be close to God will allow us to keep God in our minds at all times, even when we are far away.
Remember, it is God who gives us strength. Even when we are working hard in the University, away from home, not near a church, we must still take time to be thankful and ask God for his strength to be by our side during these times. With God by our side, all things are possible.
Nadia Lawand is a first-year university student (equivalent to a sophomore) at Concordia University in Montreal, specializing in Communications and minoring in Spanish. She serves as the NAC Teen SOYO Presidential Advisor. In her spare time, she owns her own communications company in Montreal called NadiaStar Communications, Inc.