If you watch HBO’s hit show, Game of Thrones, I’m sure you’ll agree that the people of Westeros (and Essos, of course) have it way rougher than we do. I mean, college is hard – but at least we don’t have to deal with a sadistic writer (we’re looking at you, George R. R. Martin) who controls our fate. We don’t have to necessarily worry about being poisoned, beheaded, or burnt to a crisp. But it would still be awesome to fly up to class on a dragon (yeah, just try to give me a parking ticket). It’s fun to pretend, isn’t it? But just…you know, maybe don’t bring your limited edition model of Ned’s greatsword Ice to class. Leave that at home; the white walkers aren’t here. Winter isn’t here. Yet.
Cue the theme song.
Let’s talk about the issues we do face.
1.) Parking. All of you commuters out there will appreciate this. Parking is never easy – in fact, it’s always hard. Almost as hard as…raising three dragons? Maybe. Not really. But it certainly feels that way.
2.) Getting to class. So, you’re in college now – technicallly, you don’t have to go to class. But remember, you do pay to be there: you should be going to class. And you know what we all feel like trying to get to class after Bengal Pause lets out? It’s kind of…well, it kind of feels like this:
3.) Dealing with a hangover. So, you went on a Thursday night bender, huh? Feeling a little like Tyrion Lannister? You drag yourself out of bed and shuffle to class; you do your best to stay postivie, but let’s be honest: the world is dark and full of terrors, isn’t it?
4.) Affording…anything. You’re broke. We get it. We are, too. We’re definitely not as rich as the Lannisters, but we have the valor and honor of the Starks…right?
5.) Dealing with other people. It’s college, you’re constantly surrounded by people. Know how we all have our “unassigned-assigned seats”? There’s always that one anarchist who trifles with the system. And this is exactly how they’ll look at you (let’s just hope they’re not actually Ramsay Snow):
6.) Buying food on campus. You were hungry, but you caved. You told yourself you needed food…but now, looking at it, you’re kind of regretting getting Subway for like…what? The seventeenth time this semester?
7.) Exams. Quizzes, tests, essays…they’re all the same. They leave you tired, miserable, and anxious. But your professors are up there, smugly reminding you that:
(We have the sneaking suspicion that our professors would actually kind of like Littlefinger. Ew.)
8.) Sports. We have a lot of atheletes on campus. And they take their games very seriously – as they should. But what if a rival team showed up to sneak a peak at one of your practices? Well, you wouldn’t like that very much – take Ned Stark’s advice, and lay low. Save the showing off for when it counts.
9.) Midterms. We’ve already mentioned exams in general, but let’s talk about midterms. Midterms are a special kind of torture. Sure, they mean you’re about halfway through the semester – but then again, it’s only half over?
10.) Parking. No, this isn’t a mistake. We’ve already mentioned parking – but it’s bad enough sometimes on campus that it deserves two places on our list. Ever see two people fighting over a spot? They say the honking is louder than the Horn of Winter.
11.) Professors. We love some and can’t stand others. But they all assign homework and give out exams. Why? To – for the most part – prepare us for the future. Do we lose sleep because we’re constantly studying? Do have empty pockets from buying a dozen expensive textbooks? Yep. But it’s for our own good…right?
12.) Burning out. We’ve all been there. You’re drowning in so much work that you just stop functioning. Somebody might remind you that you’ve have an assignment due tomorrow, and you’re just like:
13.) Monday mornings. We’ll just leave this one here.
14.) Winter is coming. And we live in Buffalo – so you know winter is coming, and it’s coming quickly. Brace yourselves.