By Joshua Parrott, Sports Writer

About this time in the semester, students start to get a feeling, or lack thereof, about school.

For first-year students who thought college would be “High school, Part II” or maybe even resemble the movie “American Pie,” this feeling may be new or unknown.

For freshmen tests, projects, homework and even class itself can become an overwhelming and tremendous burden at this time of the semester. Forget about just freshmen, sophomores, upperclassmen, faculty, staff; you name most anyone on campus and I guarantee they have some form of stress involving school. Every semester, some students give up and stop trying. I have advice for those thinking of giving in to the temptation of the stress: Don’t give up.

Many students at ACU work while a full-time student, some as many as two or three jobs on top of a full schedule of classes. The stress for these students (me being one of them) can be so immense that friends and family wonder why you would ever take such great responsibility if the reward seems to be nothing more than a pathetic pay check every month and clumps of freshly-pulled hair in your hands.

The college experience is more than just an academic endeavor. College is an all-around experience and involves social, physical, emotional, psychological and intellectual elements. Learning to balance our lives to the point where we can do homework, study for exams, go to classes, complete projects and be present in the workplace, while also maintaining a spiritual life, friendships and relationships is an ongoing enigma college students have tried to solve for decades.

Sadly, I still haven’t been able to solve this problem, no matter how hard I try. The important thing for me is that I decided I’m not going to give up. That seems to be a motivator to keep me going.

Students in the middle of their first semester at ACU may feel like this is not the right place for you. I have more advice for those students: Don’t give up on what ACU is capable of doing in your life.

This school has changed me and I would not be the person I am today if not for ACU. Allowing myself to change is one of the most important things I’ve learned in my three years at ACU.

So, for all those stressed and weary, lend me your ears: Don’t give up and trust in the Lord.

Let Him sweat the small stuff.