So long, summer! If any of the following apply to you, school has already started taking over your life.
1. You’ve forgotten what “free-time” is.
Unless you were working around the clock or taking summer classes, free-time was plentiful from late-May up until a few weeks ago. There was a comfortable ease in planning spontaneous day trips, making time for family, and taking care of personal needs. However, without much warning or preparation, mid-August hit and suddenly, finding time to do things as simple as using the bathroom seems like a challenge.
2. You are already stressed about your first exams and assignments.
No doubt there were a few syllabi you looked at on the FDOC that immediately launched you into a mental breakdown. Three essay-style exams and three five-to-six paged papers? You have got to be kidding me. How much longer until summer?
3. Your planner might look something like this:
Photo courtesy of Study Breaks Magazine
Every day is a color-coded mess that seems to make sense to you and only you. Some days, everything you are required to do might not even fit on the page. However, you know it’s bad when you also have a wall calendar and a desk calendar to keep up with. If every minute of your life from now until December is already planned out, it might mean you’re back to the educational grind.
4. Coffee is back to being your lifeline.
Over the summer, sleep deprivation was hardly an issue. You went to bed when you wanted, got up when you wanted, and napped when you wanted. It was almost as if you forgot what it was like to be tired. Not anymore! You might be out and about, using your brain to the absolute max from seven in the morning until nine at night during the school year. Whether you take it iced, hot, black, or with cream and sugar, coffee (or caffeine in general) is back to being a daily necessity. Special shout out to Starbucks, Dunkin, and PCJ!
5. A weird part of you feels fulfilled again.
Despite all the downsides and stresses associated with the start of school, there is something satisfying about being back. Is it the familiar faces of peers? Perhaps it’s the unmistakable smell of the library. It’s hard to say, but whatever it is, every student feels it. Education is a weird, magical set of experiences that we miss when we are no longer a part of it. In a lot of ways, it’s nice to be back!