I find myself stressed, not present and not sleeping due to the constant worry about how to schedule my day and how I will get everything done that is being asked of me. This is very real and not merely a complaint — ask anyone you know trying to plan a wedding and graduate at the same time.

I found myself up early on a Wednesday morning, wondering where I could pass the time before my classes started. I recalled going through my old wardrobe and realizing it had been a while since I visited a thrift store.

Technology is prohibiting the human connection that college is built on, and unfortunately, change doesn’t start until professors and other students engage in conversations outside the class block. Some professors are already doing this by having lunch with students or simply opening the door to discussion about a passion in common with a student right after class ends.

Suffering is something that people aim to avoid at all costs, seeking the easy, comfortable life instead. However, suffering can be a beautiful, purifying thing, unveiling our desire for something deeper and drawing us into a beautiful intimacy with Christ.

Students can complete more than 120 credit hours and still feel unprepared to navigate a professional setting. Writing a clear business email and participating in workplace meetings are skills often learned outside a college’s coursework.

It is not uncommon to hear someone say, half-laughing, that they didn’t even last a week. The remark is meant to be humorous, but it reveals something deeper. Failure in Lent has become social embarrassment rather than spiritual reflection. Success has become a badge of religious credibility. The language of repentance has been replaced by the language of achievement.