For many, the Fall 2016 semester will begin sometime next month, and it is wild. In high school, finishing a grade seemed to take an eternity. But now? I've completed four semesters - that's two years - and I still feel like I just got here! While it isn't move-in and get-ready-to-begin-your-semester-chock-full-of-classes time, it is time to start assessing what you need to do to get ready for that transition back to college life (if you are like me and had absolutely nothing to do with college for the last 3 months). Here are 15 things that happen when it's time to go back to college!
1. There is a lot of planning (in my household at least). I have to map out when/where/how I will grocery shop and cook my meals so my mom won't think I will starve.
2. Relatives begin asking hundreds of questions about what you are doing with your life/what your are studying/what your grades are looking like.
3. Old friends you haven't seen all summer will suddenly want to get together before you go.
4. There is a lot of packing (if you are moving). You have to pack and clean and pack and clean some more to uproot your life again, for another semester, again.
5. Some slight anxiety is created because all classes are not created equal and it's honestly a toss-up sometimes. This upcoming semester has the potential to be the BEST or WORST semester of your college career.
6. RENT. RENT. RENT. If you live off campus, you have to figure out how to make rent for the first 2-3 months of the semester before that financial aid will kick in.
7. If you didn't take summer courses, you now have summer brain. You have to get prepare yourself for all the tests, quizzes, and, required reading you can handle.
8. Speaking to those of us who go to school in the South. THE HEAT. You have to get ready for that relentless heat. The majority of the nation thinks the summer weather will end in August-September. But we know better. Get ready to endure pure heat until October - at least.
9. Buying things. If you are off the meal plan for the first time or just cooking for yourself for the first time. You have to buy some stuff or you will be eating ready-made and microwave food/take out all semester.
10. This one is a minor one, but Looking Up Your Professors. Yes you did some research when you signed up for these courses last semester, but if you were like me, it was sort of an afterthought. Now, you have to see what you have gotten yourself into before that Drop/Add period ends and you are stuck.
