I wrote an opinion piece on February 2025, titled ‘Struggling with stress,’ relaying my sentiments on whether college is worth all the stress and hardship.
In short, I said that all the stress was worth it because in return, you would receive great potential for a successful career afterwards. Now in my senior year, after the death of my grandma, my experience has become much more complicated. My opinion has changed and I want to expand upon this topic now, having a weight so heavy that I’ve never felt before.
To preface, despite the manner of this opinion piece, I’m not declaring that everyone should drop out of college right now or that college is never worth it. College does have its merit and worth for everyone, but after the year I have had, it’s made me reconsider the choices I’ve made and why I’ve made them.
In November 2025, I had also written another opinion piece titled ‘The weight of grief,’ where I discuss how my grandma’s cancer has affected me and my education. How unfortunate it was that my grandma would die just a month after this had been written.
My grandma died just a few days before Christmas, and before that, my family and I were dealing with the grief and stress of learning she had cancer. This journey persisted throughout my 2025 fall semester and still haunts me every day.
My grandma’s passing has flipped my world upside down more than I ever thought it would. Her dying has prompted me to reconsider why I’m putting myself through all the stress and pain of my senior year if she won’t even be there to watch me graduate.
My senior year has been hard enough with countless late nights, early mornings, skipped meals and emotional breakdowns, but my grandma was the final tipping point.
I often ask myself if there is another option out there or a better way for me to learn and become a better professional in the career I’m pursuing without feeling like I have to destroy and rebuild myself, all while never getting a moment to fully manage my grief. And if I’m being honest, I don’t know if there is a better option.
University and classes are not built for the real moments of losing loved ones and processing grief. You might be given a day to cry about it if you’re lucky, but deadlines and projects still exist and you must suck it up and put on a smile even when it hurts.
That’s the reality I’ve come to learn, and it’s not right. If we did give everyone their rightful time to grieve and morn then objectives would not be met and surely wrongful people would take advantage of that system.
I know there’s no good way to approach this subject when classes and projects still move on without you, but it still hurts.
A person’s senior year is expected to be stressful and difficult to manage, but mine is beyond anything that I would have imagined and with my grandma’s death being the cherry on top is more than I can bear.
My senior work has put me through the wringer and my grandma’s death has broken me, but I have come out stronger on the other end, but at what cost?
Even with everything I’ve experienced this past year, I don’t regret getting a higher education, but I no longer believe that the sacrifice of my mental and physical health is a worthy price for that education. I look upon my senior year with distaste, eager to finally escape and try my hand at getting a job.
If you are dealing with grief, something similar or need someone to reach out to, please contact Ferris State’s Personal Counseling Center at (231) 591-5968 or Th****@****is.edu.