AHHHHHHHH!” That scream you just heard was me. All I’ve wanted to do in the last two or three weeks is scream — scream away all the work I have to do.

I have come to believe that my professors are in some sort of conspiracy against me. They must’ve gotten together before the semester began and said to each other:

“Let’s not assign any work in Sara’s classes until the last three weeks of the semester, so she thinks she’s doing OK, all the while being set up to fail.”

Everything has descended upon me these past few weeks. All I can think about is the work I still have to do, the work I should be doing, the work I’ve put off far too long, the work I will never get done on time.

These obsessive thoughts have made me quite crabby. I’m so preoccupied that I’ve been constantly snapping at my friends.

In fact, I’ve just been generally unpleasant.

I’ve started whining now, too (as you’ve noticed.) Not that I don’t normally whine, because I do, but it’s worse right now.

I whine about everything — my parents just bought my little sister a car, my friends don’t pay enough attention to me, my friends pay too much attention to me, my boyfriend is neglecting me, etc. You get the picture.

Everything in my life sucks. The world is out to get me.

But then, last Thursday, something happened to change my mind.

Matt Lichty, a 20-year-old Iowa State junior, was killed in a car accident while driving to Nebraska for a job interview.

We heard this while sitting in the newsroom late in the afternoon. Since I was still at the Daily, I reported on it.

I got the details about the crash, but I wanted to know more about Matt, so I decided to call people that had known him to see what he was like.

I learned that Matt was a fun-loving, outgoing guy, who always had time for people. His friends at Alpha Gamma Rho valued his friendship and were hit hard by the loss.

However, the most tragic component of Matt’s story was his recent marriage. Only six days before his death, Matt was married to a young woman named Tiffany from Drake University. They also had a 6-month-old baby named Caleb.

Besides leaving behind friends and family, Matt’s death leaves his wife and child struggling to understand why.

I almost starting crying when I heard these details.

A man I never knew died, which happens everyday, but something in his story touched me somehow.

Matt Lichty had his whole life in front of him. His wife, his baby, a potential job — everything was turning out OK.

And then, out of nowhere …

This just proves how short, how transitional life is. Matt was only 20 years old, the same age I am.

Nothing on this earth is permanent. Happiness and sorrow in our lives are both only temporary. This kind of puts my little problems into perspective. Finals week, papers, tests, even my little mood swings won’t last.

I realized something else after Matt’s death: I really don’t have anything to whine about.

I have so much to be thankful for. I have a God who loves me, wonderful friends, a caring family, a fun job and an amazing boyfriend.

I have more in my life right now than I even remotely deserve, and I’m taking it all for granted.

Yeah, my papers and tests are a huge pain. I get depressed just thinking about them.

But if I died in a car crash tomorrow, do I want to be remembered as that whiny girl who just complained about everything?

All of this will pass. My life is simply too short to spend worrying and whining about professors who are out to get me.

If we can learn anything from such a tragic death, I hope it’s this: Don’t spend your life on unimportant details. Love people and don’t take anything for granted.

Remember that everything can disappear in the blink of an eye.

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Sara Ziegler is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.