My morning coffee has become my best friend. But only because midterms are now my worst enemy.

Where did the time go? It’s hard to believe that I’ve only been at San Diego State for a month and now the first mid-semester headaches are already rolling in.

What’s worse are the distractions — friends, parties, Facebook. It can be difficult to stay focused on your studies with everything that’s going on.

It was much different in high school.

Of course, I took my studies very seriously, but it was a little easier to get the grades I wanted. Now that most classes base the whole grade on test scores, it is definitely more stressful to perform your best under that kind of pressure. I also feel that in college, the grades matter way more than they used to.

Although grades are very important in high school, they are only used to get into college. But now, that concept of just getting into college seems minuscule when your grades in higher education are going to decide what career path you take and ultimately where you will end up in the future.

So yes, extreme measures are needed — like staying in on a Saturday night to make flashcards or even locking yourself in the library’s “quiet zone” to escape the distractions.

So were my sacrifices worth it? I’m not sure, but what I do know is that I’m glad this week is over.