Starbrush is the Nevada Sagebrush’s column devoted to the interconnection between astrology and college life. 

There’s a certain comfort walking around campus as the semester nears its midpoint. In the eyes of every person you cross paths with is the undeniable look of someone who’s near a breakdown. Perhaps they’ve already had one. Maybe a few. Oh gosh, are they okay? 

We all reach this point some time or another. Especially halfway through the semester, when midterms start to pile onto the already stressful load of other responsibilities.The crushing weight of the various pressures seemingly all colliding at once is enough to put anyone on the brink of crisis. When in a meltdown state we look to a lot of sources of guidance—why not the stars? 

Let’s try to diagnose your likely mid-semester crisis based on your astrological grouping:

Air signs (Aquarius, Gemini, Libra): Whoops, you overcommitted!

At the beginning of the semester everything feels so chill. There’s few things to do, major assignments feel far off in the horizon. When things feel so sparse, it’s easy to try to sign yourself up for just a few more commitments. It’s good to be involved, right? All of a sudden March is starting and you’ve got 12 clubs you’re responsible to, a job, a volunteering commitment, a seemingly endless list of social activities to attend and of course a mountain of schoolwork to complete and tests to study for. It’s easy to feel a bit overburdened and start cursing your past self for being so gosh darn involved! When confronted with this scenario, play to your strengths: take a second to come up with a creative plan of action, and stay loose as you flow from commitment to commitment. As you start to knock a few out of the way things will feel lighter and more maneuverable, and your spirits will lift. 

Water signs (Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio): The entire universe is against you!

This time of year, the stakes tend to get a lot higher in everything we do. Exams can make or break your grade. Random projects start being due and the thought of performing poorly can be dizzying. Important events start propping up around this time too, which helps build further tension. Certainly this is the worst time for something to go wrong right? Well, something will go wrong, because mistakes and unfortunalities happen every day. However, your heightened emotionality means you will feel it HARD. Your shoe will come untied and you’ll curse every god you can think of for turning the fates against you. Relax. Take a step back, breathe and adapt. Using your sensitivity to help people close to you navigate their crises will help take your mind off things. 

Fire signs (Aries, Leo, Sagitarius): Random mood swings!

You’re not sleeping enough. You are drinking too much coffee (or kombucha, you maniac). You are too busy to participate in whatever your favorite emotional release is. Be it exercise, socializing, meditating, etc.—things are just too hectic to do these helpful little activities. Then all of the sudden that person in your class just had to open their dumb mouth and say something vaguely problematic and you’re shooting up out of your seat with hand frantically raised, vigorously shutting them down with raw and fiery passion. In the hallway your friend gives you a compliment and you break down into tears. All rationality is out the window. You’ve become completely unpredictable even to yourself. Set aside some time for self care. You’re gonna need it to keep things from spiraling. 

Earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): Where are the answers!?

Most of the year you can figure out what to do. People turn to you for advice, and they love how reasonable your answers are. Finding a path towards solving things in a non-convoluted way is your speciality. The vibe in the mid-semester temporal zone is different though. Problems become more complex—some even grow to be nonsensical. Questions suddenly turn tough, or otherwise awkward. It can feel like all of the easy answers are slipping away, the cool confidence you approach problems with gradually declining. It can make you feel powerless or desperate to find the truths normally so simple to reach. As much as you naturally shy away from chaotic thinking, you might need to lean away from your rational instinct. Instead, search for more unconventional solutions to survive the madness accompanying the middle of the semester. 

Vincent Rendon can be reached at vrendon@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @VinceSagebrush.