I’m more stressed than you are.

It’s true. I doubt you can even fathom the amount of stress I’m under. But this time of year, everyone thinks their stress level far exceeds that of any other student.

As essay and exam season roll around, I find myself surrounded by people trying to out-do my workload. Eventually, I am unintentionally participating in competitions with friends and acquaintances to determine who has the most on their plate.

The catalyst of this is usually the honestly distressed student who complains they have a midterm the following day. Their adversary then immediately counters this argument in saying they have both a midterm and a final essay. The claim is then topped by the person who has a midterm, multiple final essays and works part-time.

The winner of this battle of academia is either the person who groans the loudest, or the one who ultimately has so much work it’s questionable whether they will actually finish it all.

I’m tired of hearing it.

I’m tired of having to defend my workload against individuals who feel the need to belittle my stress in order to indulge theirs. OK, so I don’t have any exams during the traditional exam period. This doesn’t mean I’m coasting through December.

There’s no denying exams are a stressful time of year, whether you have one or five, but there are certainly ways to alleviate the stress. For those individuals who have three exams, two essays and five Christmas parties to attend, I can’t help but wonder why you would let yourself get to the point where you’re chugging Red Bull and staying in the library until it closes. Exam schedules are posted at least a month before exam starts, and due dates for final essays are found on the syllabus given on the first day of class.

Maybe you should have anticipated this busy season, and started researching for that 25-page paper a month ago rather than the night before it was due.

In the end, there is no need for a competition at all. Stress is subjective, and while it may seem you’re workload is heavier than your friends’, it’s unfair to assume you’re automatically under more stress than they are. Everyone handles stress differently – some better than others.

While you may consider your roommate lucky for only having one midterm, sometimes there’s more to their situation than you imagine — the format of that midterm and its weight can increase that roomie’s stress to levels you may not have anticipated.

I suggest if someone approaches you complaining about their workload, the best thing to do is listen quietly and offer a bit of acknowledgement. Avoid the temptation to retaliate and list off everything you have to do. You’re only satisfying yourself in doing so.