Winter quarter is finally upon us, friends, but little joy is to be found in this eternal abyss. Everyone knows that, of all quarters, winter is by far the worst.
This was illustrated extremely well on the first day of the quarter, as it rained heavily all day long with no sign of ever stopping. I was cold, I was wet, and I wanted to go home. I know I had three weeks of break to prepare myself for what was to come, but I don’t think three decades could have prepared me for this misery.
Yes, this is dramatic, but that’s what happens when this awful time of year rolls around.
Don’t believe me? Well, it matches perfectly with the five stages of grief:
1. Denial
Denial is the first of the five stages of grief, and is exactly what you feel when you’re at home during break and realize school is about to start again. You refuse to believe you’re voluntarily about to go through this hell for another ten weeks. This can’t be happening. You don’t want to let in all the pain again, so you deny it is happening entirely.
2. Anger
You can no longer deny that winter quarter is happening, but you’re not happy about it. In fact, you’re pissed. How dare the world do this to you? Does it know who you are? Screw the UC system – in fact, screw the entire educational system! You hate everyone who seems remotely happy about school starting. You despise your teachers having the audacity to email you a week before the quarter even begins.
3. Bargaining
If you weren’t particularly religious before, you are now. You’ve made so many wagers with various deities that you can no longer keep track. You would do anything for these 10 weeks to be different from last winter quarter. You’ll change, you promise.
4. Depression
You’re just plain sad now. You feel absolutely hopeless in the face of time, and are just waiting for your inevitable misery and failure. Life is just going through the motions at this point. Your whining won’t change anything, and you feel powerless. (This doesn’t mean you won’t stop complaining, though, because you’ll definitely whine your heart out.)
5. Acceptance
It’s happening. It’s time. School has begun again and you’ve attended some of your classes.
You can no longer pretend the quarter isn’t happening, because now you have actual responsibilities and deadlines. You don’t know how you got to this point in your life, but you know you have no choice but to face it. In fact, you’ve already scheduled your first few crying sessions. Look at you, doing things in advance. Maybe things will change!
(They won’t.)
Good luck during winter quarter, Aggies! May God be with us all.
Cover image source: Pexels