I started the semester by chit chatting about handling college stress and in just one more week, we'll all get a well-deserved month-long break. But I'm not going to deny that this was a stressful semester and at times, it definitely got the best of me.

I got so caught up in the midst of due dates at school, my internship and at the Tribune that I seemed to forget why any of it mattered. I knew I was stressed out because I spent a lot of time questioning my major and the dilemma of "what am I going to do with my life?" My dad just replied, "you're a senior. Isn't it a little late for this?"

Obviously, the multiple responsibilities we as college students face can discourage anyone. I had forgotten what I thought would really make me happy post-graduation. I was getting tired of doing all the grunt work it takes to be successful in the long-run.

It's like I've had one foot in the "real-world" and one in the "college-world"; it's a more frustrating situation. You feel like if you were just doing the career part you could do it and be successful. But then you're splitting the time with course work and it can get overwhelming. And your bosses and teachers certainly won't cut you any slack.

But I figure if I can handle that, then this "real world" isn't too scary. I'm sure a ton of you can relate to questioning school, your major and the future. And I'm sure even more can relate to being busy and stressed.

So I took a break to try to figure out what would make me happy. This then lead to an expensive purchase — a plane ticket to New York City. For anyone who has known me even semi-well over the past three and half years, you know that my dream involves moving there. So I figured I better go check it out.

Losing sight of your goals or dreams makes school so much harder to get through. A few weeks ago, I visited my friend who graduated last year from Marquette. She is living in Washington, D.C. and just glowing with excitement. She survived school and has now found her dream job in her dream city.

It is things like that that make the stress of finals and college-life so attackable. I know that I had a tough semester and I felt it was my job as a columnist at a student paper to talk about a reality we all face at some time or another.

On top of school we deal with an array of personal situations from relationship drama to family problems. And yet we get through it. We have people tugging on us from all directions, and sometimes college students don't get the credit they deserve for handling it all.

I know my column was a little random this week. I just think that after a semester we all need some recognition for everything we've accomplished. And I know that we all need to refocus so we never let go of our goals and dreams.

Have an amazingly fun and relaxing break, Marquette.