The sixth week of school is almost over and students are dropping like flies. A lot of my friends are already pulling all nighters, becoming worn out and skipping class to do other, more pressing homework. And I can’t lie, I’m feeling the pressure as well.

However, I think a lot of students are blaming these problems on the classes, the teachers, the stupid assignments or the business of their schedule, when really they themselves are their problem and their solution.

If you are way too busy, then maybe you have joined too many things. And while it is totally going to suck for you to have to back out of a commitment (and arguably you should have seen this coming beforehand and known what you could handle) you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. Drop something gracefully, or you will end up disappointing a lot of people, yourself most of all.

Your classes can suck for two reasons: the class is too easy and feels like a waste of your time, or the class is really hard and sucking you dry. First of all, no matter what, in the words of Bob Marley, “Don’t worry, be happy.” Worrying isn’t going to make anything better and is kind of like walking around with an umbrella open, waiting for it to rain. You don’t know what is going to happen so don’t assume you do.

If your class is too easy, see what the attendance policy is like. If you are allowed to skip a decent amount, go ahead and do it. You are allowed, plus you are fully confident that you know what is going on and are doing well without the lectures or demonstrations. If you can’t miss a lot and are bored out of your mind, make study guides for your harder classes instead of taking notes in your easy ones. I do this all the time, and let me tell you, I have A’s in both types of classes right now. It’s not a bad thing to figure out what works for you and no matter what your advisor, teacher or friends say, if the class is too easy you have to find a way to make your time count.

If the class is really hard and your teacher is saying things like, “Study everything,” “This is how I studied when I was in college,” or “You should be studying eight hours outside of class,” then obviously, your teacher isn’t going to be able to help you. At. All. When you skip your easier classes, instead of sleeping every time, work on your harder homework. I heard once that you only retain the first and last 15 minutes of studying, so I started studying in half an hour spurts, and it worked for me. I also bribe myself with food, TV shows, seeing a friend…anything. Yes, I literally have to play games with myself.

But in the end, stop stressing out. You are going to give yourself a conniption and for what? Because you hate science and might not get an A? First off, if it’s a class you hate, I’m assuming it isn’t a class for your major. If it is, you have bigger problems. I myself hate science and math more than I hate snakes. And snakes are the biggest, scariest tools in the world. If the class isn’t for your major, calm down. All you have to do is get a D and move on. D’s aren’t for you, you say? That’s not how you do things? Well, if you stress out so much you have a heart attack you won’t be doing much of anything anyway, will you? And if you normally get A’s, then doing “bad” for you will most likely result in a B or C, something most people can live with.

On top of that, your G.P.A. doesn’t mean as much now as it did in high school. In high school, you needed to have a certain G.P.A. to get into college but now that you are in college, you don’t always need a certain G.P.A. to get a job. I’m assuming that you know what you do and do not need. Some people do get higher pay grades if they have higher G.P.A.’s. However, some people (like journalism majors) get hired based on their experience and projects completed. I am 100 percent positive that my potential employer is not going to look at my transcript and say, “Oh, you got a B- in biology… soooooo we don’t want you.” They will look at clips like this column… and then probably say they don’t want me. Recessions suck.

Whether we like it or not, we are growing up and getting ready to go out into the real world. And we won’t be taking standardized tests and studying for easy or hard classes. We’ll be doing something most likely harder than anything we experienced in college. So imagine how big of a break down you might have out in the real world, if you can’t even handle what is on your plate now. Relax.

Some teachers know what they are talking about and some have absolutely no clue, so listen to yourself. You know what is best for you. I just hope you figure it out before you have a panic attack over that test that is only worth 10 percent of your grade.