Each semester, college students tend to go through the same pattern. We start off the semester strong and confident, thinking this semester we will “own” college. We charge straight for it, but the fun cuts short once we meet our professors and read the syllabus. Below are the stages we all go through during the semester. Some semesters you skip around but that’s okay because no matter how hard a semester may be that will never keep you from fighting to earn that degree!
Stage 1-Strong and Confidence
This is the stage of the semester or at least the first few weeks of the semester where everything is not too bad. Planners are looking neat, and you’re on top of the work. You start to finally think “This is going to be a good semester”.
Stage 2-Denial
The work hits you hard, but you don’t have time for a mental breakdown. You tell yourself everything is okay, this can’t be happening. You just need to pull yourself together and move forward with the semester. You pretend everything is all sunshine and rainbows and that somehow your grades will be whatever you want them to be.
Stage 3-To Drop or Not to Drop
You begin to question your motive behind taking that philosophy class or even your major. Why be a nursing major when the workload is taller than me for one class? You contemplate back and forth about emailing your adviser so much that all of your ice in your coffee has melted, or the nice hot coffee you got an hour ago has gone cold. You scramble to find friends making a pros and cons list of whether or not to go through hell with the class.
Stage 4-The Meltdown
Here it comes, the long-anticipated waterworks. You’ve tried so hard to not seep down to this level, prolonging it as much as possible, but it happened. You just hit your lowest point. Don’t worry, everyone experiences this. It’s a sign showing you’re a college student. If you never reached this level, share your secret with us, please! This is something you don’t plan, it hits you unexpectedly, and most likely in the worst situation ever. Oh, you’re just having a casual conversation with friends or maybe just sitting by yourself for a minute? BAM! Let the show begin!
Side note: When this happened with my friends this semester, we all ended up crying in the girls’ bathroom. This semester we were having a mental breakdown and another group of girls came in crying. It just so happens they were too. It was such a weird coinky-dink!
Stage 5-The Stressing
This stage usually happens during the final stretch of the semester, when the workload picks up, and finals are right around the corner. You ask yourself, Why did I procrastinate? I have so much to do. You never realize how much work you can actually get done when you’re doing it last minute.
Stage 6-Acceptance
College is hard, no matter where you are or what major you decide on. Once you accept you can’t control everything and things won’t always go the way you hoped, then you will begin to relax a little. Sometimes you need to cry a little in order to stabilize yourself and be the best you can be. That’s all that matters, being the best version of yourself. Take things day by day and don’t stress too much because you will hit many obstacles in life. College is one of them.
Each semester is different. Not every semester maybe terrible or maybe it is. If you are lucky enough to have a terrible semester then congrats to you. College is hard but at the end of those four or two years, you will be holding a degree and you know it will all be worth it.