“By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

This line from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” pretty accurately describes my life at the moment. Between fall break and November 5th I have 4 midterms, a 10 minute psychology project, final preparations for and putting on Stage Fright and Homecoming. Add this to my already busy schedule and suffice to say I have a lot to do.

But how that infamous line applies to my life depends on how you define wicked.

One definition of wicked is “Extremely unpleasant.” The midterms, while necessary, are most certainly “extremely unpleasant.” Not just the tests themselves but all the studying that goes into them. The psychology project, Stage Fright and homecoming are all very enjoyable themselves but it’s wicked how much preparation they require and how much sleep I lose preparing for them.

Another (slightly more positive) definition of wicked is “playfully mischievous.” This definition best applies to Stage Fright. For those of you who don’t know, Stage Fright is the haunted house at the Schuster Theatre sponsored by Alpha Psi Omega, Gannon’s theatre honors fraternity. I’m the head of Stage Fright this year and all the preparation that has gone into the haunted house has been very playful. It’s been a lot of fun toying around with the different ways we can scare those who visit and I’m feeling quite wicked about the plan we’ve come up with.

Yet another definition is: “excellent or wonderful.” Ultimately, everything I have to do can fall under this definition of wicked. Acing all of my tests and my project, putting on a successful Stage Fright and having lots of fun (and hopefully winning!) Homecoming would be very wicked.

When life gets busy or tough, how you handle it all depends on how you put it into perspective. Like all college students, I have a lot to do, especially because it’s time for midterms. But I have control over how I manage my time and my attitude. When I’m particularly stressed out I like to write down everything I’m supposed to do. It helps me to realize how manageable my time is and make me feel a lot less stressed.

I know that everything I have to do will eventually be over. Whatever the outcome, as I long as I use my time wisely and maintain a positive perspective, I know I’ll get through it unscathed.

And that’s pretty wicked.

Matt 🙂

Check out some posts related to Homecoming here!