So I�m sitting in my AP Government class doing some last-minute cramming for a test I should�ve studied for the previous night but didn�t because I was studying for another test in Advanced Math (read: the cop-out to Calculus) and memorizing some vocabulario for Spanish II, which I would�ve gotten started on before 11 p.m. if I hadn�t been at work until 10 p.m. and then hungry afterwards.

So we�re cramming, and Our Lady of Government has just finished trying to quell our fears about the non-hard un-test we�re all stressing about when some girl yells, �Can we hurry up and take the test before I forget everything?�

While I could see the girl�s point (as well as sympathize with it myself), it got me thinking (which is always a bad situation, but I really needed an idea for this column, because I was a week behind on my deadlines; it got so bad that I had to give myself a week�s extension): Why are we doing this?

The greatly underappreciated writer Wing Chun expounded upon the annual back-to-school ritual in a recent online journal entry. Mostly, she talks about what a waste of time school turned out to be, especially now that she is out in the real world of Canadian business. However, the part that struck me about her prose was this:

"If I were forced back into school now, knowing what I've learned since I left, I'd have all my papers for the year written within the first month, and I'd spend the rest of the time napping and watching TV."

As I was reading this two weekends ago, I started to question why I was letting all the stress from all the things that are pulling me in ten different directions affect me. I was spending more time worrying about getting it all done than I was actually doing any of it.

I�ve learned also that, despite all outward appearances, there�s not a whole lot in my life that is completely under my control. Almost everything I do is dependent on at least one other person or thing, and I generally have no control over that person or thing, so trust is a big part of it, but I�m more thinking blind faith. If you don�t have time and it doesn�t get done, blame the other person.

Someone told me the other day that they didn�t know how I was able to balance all my class work with the clubs I�m in and my two jobs. I�m going to let everyone in on my secret. I wouldn�t have the energy or the desire to do pretty much any of the things I do if I didn�t have time for the things I like to do.

It just so happens that I share some favorite activities with Wing Chun: �napping and watching TV.� Wednesday is a crazy day for me. I get up at the buttcrack of dawn and come to school, work semi-hard all day, and go home and pretend to do some homework before heading to work for five or six hours, all the while obsessing about the at least two or three more hours of homework I still have to do, which means an estimated bedtime of around 2 a.m. With all of that, if I couldn�t come home and watch my Law & Order, I�d probably go insane.

And on Saturdays, after I�ve been up until all hours on Friday night and worked first thing in the morning, it�s nice to be able to stretch out on the couch and take a nap. It�s relaxing, in a way, which I guess should probably be pretty obvious in that it�s a nap, which involves sleeping, or at the very least, a period of suspended activity.

I guess I�ve also learned that the little things make the biggest difference. Sanity, zen, inner peace � whatever you call it � comes through a balance of nonstop stress on the one hand, and a good combination of junk food, comfortable furniture, and some of the best television writing money can buy on the other hand. Like yin and yang, Cheech and Chong, peanut butter and jelly, dare I say Donny and Marie, you can�t have one without the other (and if you don�t believe me, just think back to when they tried Cheech without Chong and we had Nash Bridges).

So now I�m going to go finish my opening statement for AP Government and try to visualize the word problems I have to do tonight before I go to work and then a staff meeting over sandwiches at Atlanta Bread Company, after which I will tackle my review worksheet for Spanish II and the next three chapters in my Government book, followed by an episode or two of The Simpsons before I go to bed. Shut up.