College students are, by definition, insanely busy. We go to class; we do homework; we have jobs; we have social lives (well, most of us) – and on top of it all, we still have to eat, sleep, shower, and go through the learning curve as many of us tackle living on our own for the first time. Of course, there are a wide variety of college students. Some of us take lighter semesters with only 12 credit hours. Others prefer an average semester with 15 or so credit hours. Both of these options are totally reasonable. Then there’s the subset of students, myself included, who insist on taking 18 credit hours for one reason or another. To help others better understand the seemingly crazy folks who subject themselves to this torture, here are 8 truths about being an 18-credit hour student, as told by the characters of Grey’s Anatomy.
1. Finding out all of your midterms are the same two days.
You go to set up your planner for next week, and as you begin to fill it in, you notice a pattern: Spanish exam Wednesday, Physics exam Thursday, Calculus exam Thursday, Chemistry exam Wednesday. What gives?! Maybe if you just go to sleep, it’ll all go away.
2. When your friends tell you they don’t have anything to do.
No homework to do? No studying to do? We love you, but please don’t tell us anymore. We can’t handle the jealousy that you actually manage to have free time.
3. When your professors tell you that you look tired.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether the dark circles around your eyes are from sleep deprivation, make up that never got washed off, or some unfortunate combination of the two. Pro tip: if you tell someone that they look tired you will accomplish three things: they will be tired even if they weren’t previously, they will be upset with you, and they will find a way to blame it on you (especially if you are a professor assigning two hours of homework a night or more than 100 pages of reading a week).
4. When you try and tell your friends about something that happened in lecture.
No, but really guys, I swear class today was so funny! You’re still not laughing? Oh, well, I guess chemistry-based humor isn’t everybody’s thing.
5. When you reach a whole new level of overwhelmed.
You have your computer open and your favorite playlist for getting things done queued up on Spotify. You’ve done the reading and have all of your notes ready. You open the empty word document, and it stares back at you for what seems like an eternity. We’ve all been there. Maybe some things just aren’t meant to be, after all.
6. When you sit down with your advisor and schedule 18 credits again for next semester.
Are you out of your mind?! Your advisor is probably staring at you like you have three heads, and you resolve to make an appointment with a psychiatrist while you try to rationalize taking 18 credit hours again. If I only take 16 credit hours, maybe I’ll have some free time, but what would I do with it? I’d probably just be bored— better just stick with 18.
7. When exam day arrives.
You’ve studied all week for this. You know exactly what you’re talking about… you hope. Nevertheless, the moment of truth has arrived. Here goes nothing.
8. When you’ve survived yet another crazy week.
You’ve done it again! Everything is turned in, all your exams have been taken and it’s finally the weekend! Let loose a little, because come Sunday, it’ll be time to gear up again.