What It Means To Be a Superhero

            I have never been a fan of superheroes. Nothing about the whole “extraordinary” persona seems to intrigue me; their superpowers don’t pique my interest, the tacky costumes just aren’t attractive to my eye, and the whole “saving-the-world” selfless attitude just doesn’t amaze me. Never did I imagine myself becoming a superhero and acquiring cool superpowers so when I first learned that CASA’s theme for this year would be all about being a superhero, I wasn’t really that enthusiastic.

            As I’m writing this article, I have 5 articles waiting to be edited, another article to write, 2 scripts to be finalized, a story to conceptualize, people to contact in lieu of a production meeting, countless tabs open, documents to manage, and a multitude of readings to finish all due within the next week. Repeat the pattern every weekend and you’ll get an idea of how hectic my life as a student is.

            Don’t get me wrong, I love the work. I savor deadlines and I love the feeling of being pressured to meet them. But sometimes, it just gets really tiring and you find yourself at a point when you just want to give up and quit. Having a lot of extracurricular work is draining both physically, mentally, and even emotionally. Add to that the fact that you are foremost a student and have academics that need to be prioritized, you’d wonder how I still manage to have a proper social life that doesn’t revolve around schoolwork and such.

Then I realize, in my own way, I am a superhero. For some reason, I still manage to balance everything that I’m doing (albeit poorly) without having to drop or forego one aspect over the other. I’m a student, a script writer, a scholar, a correspondent, a writer, an editor, a daughter, a friend, and someone’s girlfriend. I’m one and all of these things yet I still somehow manage not to lose myself in all of it and retain my sanity.

Being a superhero doesn’t mean having to wear a cape, or flying over buildings, or saving the world from an evil villain. Being a superhero means having to balance all the different sides of your persona. Juggling workload while still being able to have quality time for yourself and maintaining the relationships you have with others is a skill as good as that of having super vision or mind reading. So my fellow CASAns, I impart to you this lesson: whenever you feel like you’re weak and you want to give up, remember, you can do anything as long as you put your heart into it. Just think, I’m a superhero.