By AILEEN BURKE
Executive Editor
‘Tis the season to be Merry and Bright, but also stressed and sleepy and many other feelings that are native to this time of year.
Of course, I am stressed like any and all college students, but my primary concern this finals week is making sure I bounce back from my treatment in time for my Westerns exam. I can’t do that alone.
In cancer treatment and life, nothing can truly be accomplished without the presence of a great support system. Anyone who tells you they’ve gotten where they are entirely by themselves is a giant liar, except maybe if they’re telling you how they drove themselves to Market 32 and back. That would be the truth. You can get yourself to the store alone.
I am lucky: I have both of my parents, a little sister who still (begrudgingly won’t admit) is my shadow, a wonderful significant other, professors to mentor me, and friends I would give everything for. They all put their lives on hold and open their hearts and ears to me when I need it. We look at all of the cards that life has thrown at us, and we get a good laugh out of it. Circumstances, while sometimes dreary, seem as though they could always be worse.
I understand that not everyone is so lucky to look at their situation and be afforded the luxury of laughter: life is a serious matter, living is not. At the core of all of my blueberry columns, there is something about the power of connection and laughing at life.
It is really hard to laugh alone.
Reach out to someone this time of year! In a previous column I mentioned that you can never really see what someone is going through, and that emotional understanding is important in going through life. I could have never made it through the course of this semester without being open to helping hands. It’s made me want to use my abilities to help others in my future work, so they know they are not alone themselves. It’s a decision that this journey has brought me to.
No matter what your major, how many papers you might have to write, or even if you are driving home to Pennsylvania bi-weekly and are quite possibly the most tired you have ever been in your life – wait, is that just me?
Either way, you can be someone’s support. More often than not, they’ll support you right back.
People will surprise you if you just give them the opportunity. Don’t wait to reach out and make those bonds. They’re waiting for you.
