Amending What I Said in Class

This weekend I tried to observe the occurrences of drinking at Hamilton and build an argument of why it is “the darkest that Hamilton College gets” (yes I am quoting myself). In the process of my observations, rather than seeing the darkness of the drunken people unfold in front of my eyes, I saw even more keenly the prevalence of stress. Instead of seeing kids out drinking, I saw them in the library, in KJ, in their rooms, or doing school work. The common question of the weekend was not “where is the party?” but rather “where are you studying?” So then I started to think, is stressing about school work gothic? I am not a doctor nor do I study science but it is it pretty common knowledge that stress can be a contributing factor to many of the ills (physical and mental) that occur on the hill. And while drinking certainly keeps kids up late, in the depth of the night were only evils lurks, studying has historically been at least on par with drinking as a reason to stay up late. In fact, when I think back to the scariest times I have had at Hamilton, moments when Katherine Moreland would yell “LOOK OUT!” I can attribute most of them to school work. Walking from the library to the dark side at 4:00 AM in the snow is among the scariest journey one can endure here. The noises, the buildings, the weather, and the sleep deprivation/caffeine high could make for a mean gothic episode. Yet, no one in our class wrote about the stresses of school work. While Becca and Alison wrote about the stress of their on campus jobs, we all avoided the one thing that has plagued each and every one of us since we have stepped on the hill as freshman. So, this is me amending my statement in class: the darkest Hamilton gets is stressful students!
Yes, I am currently stressed about my work.