WJI 2021, Day 10 AM - A Study of WJI Symptoms

The mood of the WJIers has slowly gotten sillier and sillier as the days go by. The amount of giggling that occurs at meals has reached an all time high, as students’ minds begin to fade. This silliness is mostly a product of tiredness, a bit of stress, and no small amount of excitement.

Tiredness is a symptom that has shown up in the majority of the students. Since a few of the students have been sleeping quite well, I cannot say that lack of sleep is the sole cause, though I’m sure that sleeplessness may play into it. The greatest factor here is most likely the amount of splendid information being thrown at us. Seeing as the students here are very zealous academics, they want to retain as much information as they can at speeds even most racers cannot reach. As such, their brains move faster than their bodies, resulting in our first symptom: tiredness.

Our second observed symptom is stress. This second symptom can mostly be attributed to the causes of the first, but there is another force at work here. Since the students are so wonderfully studious, their desire to do well pushes them forward through that tiredness. As such, they sometimes worry that they are not doing their best, leading to unnecessary stress.

Regardless of these first two symptoms, I have also noted a great deal of excitement in the students. Not only do they keep going despite their tiredness and stress, but they seem to want to keep going. They’re experiencing journalism in real time, as if they were already working for papers and news organizations. As such, their love for journalism spurs them on with eagerness and joy, leading also to a great deal of laughter among each other.

These three symptoms combined, tiredness, stress, and excitement, are causing a great deal of humor in the lunch rooms.

A great by-product of these symptoms is another effect: by putting in effort, they have inspired the staff teaching here, and have especially inspired me! As thanks for their determination, and humorous conversations, all I can offer them is this Psalm. I hope they read it if they are ever feeling discouraged or unfit for the duty which has brought them here:

“Why art thou so full of heaviness, O my soul? And why art thou so disquieted within me? O put thy trust in God; for I will yet thank him, which is the help of my countenance, and my God” (Psalm 42:6-7).

- Nick Jenson