I am sitting here at 1 a.m. as I write this.

My days have seemingly blended, melding into an endless stream of papers, projects, meetings and deadlines.

I have had a tough semester.

Besides taking the maximum number of credits, being on floor leadership and enrolling in time-intensive courses, my mom passed away over Christmas break, taking the support I counted on during times of high stress.

I know I am not alone in this mindset of complete exhaustion.

These stressors orbit around a fledgling social life and sleep schedule.

Ah, but the end is in sight.

Finals are right around the corner, and then it’s the best time of the year for a student: summer break.

Amid the chaos of college there is the call of rest growing louder with every paper being turned in.

For a person my age, finding time to rest is the hardest thing to include in my schedule.

I am not talking about a solid eight-hour night devoted to sleeping.

Being rested, in my opinion, requires a time of silence and a time free from anxieties.

Living in EMR, I can tell you this is not possible from August to the end of April.

Getting up at 7:50 a.m. for Humanities alone requires a great deal of noise from my alarm clock and provides anxieties as soon as I wake up.

Day in and out, rest is the hardest thing to come by.

The only outcome is being worn down to the point of exhaustion.

I want to be rested again. The rest I am talking about is when there is a degree of silence in your heart.

Rest brings a peaceful state of being, giving you a confidence like nothing else.

Being rested is not a mental state of being, but rather, it is your heart’s state of being.

One of the biggest things I have learned this semester is how to rest.

Be still.

Stop doing.

With the gentle, but knowing, guidance of those much wiser then me, I have noticed I indeed am tired and I have a right to be.

Sounds like something to laugh at, but this was a big step for me.

This is why I am excited, like so many of you, for summer.

It is a time of rest.

Summer break offers innumerable opportunities to unplug, unwind and begin the process of repairing the damage a year’s worth of academic stress can deal you.

My summer will be filled with my first mission trip, time with my family and then two months out in the woods working with little children at camp. It is shaping up to be a great break already.

I implore you while school is in session to give it your all.

Listen to the old adage and “finish strong.” There is something about giving something 100 percent all the way that leaves you feeling great and accomplished.

But here’s the kicker. After that last final, seek after one thing.

Rest.

There is a difference between relaxing and resting. The former is just a cheap imitation and not a force that recharges the heart.

So rest. Be still. Take pause and admire things that you pass by. Indulge in having time on your hands to do things other than write papers and prepare for all-nighters.

I know I will be.