It might seem like polishing your research paper to perfection and finishing your last four calculus problems are more important than sleeping, eating and generally being a functional human being, but they aren’t. What’s most important is your personal health and happiness.

Granted, this is coming from someone who has gone 24 hours on nothing more than a granola bar because I thought taking even five minutes to eat was too much. I know deadlines sometimes creep up on you, and you have to make sacrifices to get your work done. That being said, it’s taken me four and a half years of college to realize that myself and countless others at MSU take that mentality way too far.

Forty-hour work weeks, weekly all-nighters and abysmal eating habits used to be the norm for me. I had decent grades, got my work done and overall thought I had my life together. Anyone who knew me during my sophomore and junior years knows that was far from true.

Focusing in class was nearly impossible because I flip-flopped from nodding off to fantasizing about mowing down a grilled cheese sandwich. On top of that, I was neurotically checking my phone and sending emails for work.

When it came time to do my homework, it took exponentially longer because I never paid attention in class. I looked for the easiest, least time-consuming way to skate by in my courses. I might have been paying thousands of dollars for an education, but I wasn’t taking advantage of the opportunity to actually learn anything. You bet I regret that now that I only have one semester left at MSU.

What’s worse is that the stress seeped into my personal life. I already struggle with anxiety, so torturing my body and pushing myself to the limit only exacerbated an existing problem. I thought if I didn’t do well at work, my life would be ruined. If I didn’t turn in every assignment, I would be a total failure. That sounds irrational, because it is. Your brain doesn’t work well without food and sleep, especially if you have problems with stress management like I do.

When I did well in school and at work I was on top of the world. If I didn’t, it seemed like my life was falling apart. One slip-up and everything tumbled down on me. I coped with this by working and studying basically nonstop to make sure I stayed on top of my workload, or at least stayed afloat.

But sometimes I snapped, and it was the people I care about most who had to deal with it. I’d lash out, ignore phone calls and texts, and when I did manage to make the time to see my friends, I couldn’t stop venting about how stressed I was.

For years, I thought this was normal. I was in the top 10 of my high school graduating class, and I assumed stress was paired with success. Now, I realize what’s really most important is personal sanity. I regret being so unhappy, anxious to the point of tears almost every day and isolated from my friends for years of my life. That’s not how we are supposed to live.

Parents, friends and professors talk about this all the time, but I don’t think they understand how busy we really are. I’m not asking you to eat three full meals a day (although that would be nice), and I’m not asking you to sleep a solid eight hours a day (also ideal). But if you have the choice between finishing a Spanish assignment worth two points and going for a run to clear your head, ditch learning the difference between “lo” and “le.”

If you haven’t eaten in the past 12 hours, grab a snack and come to class 10 minutes late. Napping for 15 minutes, bringing an apple to munch on if you don’t have time for a full meal and having a short coffee break with an old friend are all well worth your time.

You probably don’t have time for everything, and that’s OK. I know it’s difficult, but accept the fact that you’re human and will fall behind sometimes.

Trust me, making a little extra time to take care of yourself can save you from resenting what should be some of the best times of your life.

Summer Ballentine is the State News opinion editor. Reach her at sballentine@statenews.com.