When my clock hits midnight and I still have a stack of homework with a height that could challenge Mount Kilimanjaro’s, I find myself leaning back in my chair, closing my eyes, and chanting: “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming.”

The above line is easily identifiable to any American teen. Made famous by the beloved animated blue fish, Dori, in the classic children’s comedy “Finding Nemo,” the line has become commonplace in pop culture. While the line is just a cheesy cliché put to a catchy tune in the movie, the line has a certain personal significance for me.

I incorporated it into my college essay, it was the concluding line of a sermon I wrote, it will be one of my senior quotes in the yearbook, and I often give it out as a piece of advice. I am not sure how it happened, but somewhere along my high school career the line became a personal mantra of sorts.

In high school it is easy for things to pile up: classes, extracurriculars, family, friends – all on top of a life. Often, before I know it, the items on my to-do list take longer to complete than there are hours in the day. This realization usually leads to a state of panic and ends with me curling up in the fetal position on the floor. Well usually it doesn’t go that far.

It is a vicious, vicious cycle that I am sure many high school students have faced: too much work, which leads to lack of motivation, which leads to the same amount of work and less time. It has taken me nearly three years of high school to realize my flaw and I still will do anything to evade what needs to be done.  From cleaning my room to making extravagant to-do lists, anything is better than what I actually need to do.

However, Dori has gotten me through many long nights. When I find myself straying away from what I need to do, I think of the line and hit the books. I can’t say the line works 100 percent of the time, but when it does, it never fails at crossing at least a few things off of my list. It seems like common sense, when I have work, do it. However, for whatever reason, thinking of an animated blue fish singing makes getting down to business just a little easier.

So the next time it seems like your night’s homework is more like a herculean feat than a humanly attainable task, I am not making any promises, but you might want to give it a try.

Just keep swimming.