We’re all feeling it: the stress of the end of the semester and the anticipation that things will be changing very soon. But we aren’t alone, others are feeling it too. Here’s what’s going through my head, and I bet it’s going through yours too.

1. There are so things I forgot to do this semester.

Every year we go into the semester thinking we have an endless amount of time. At the beginning, the end seems so far away. We have made up in our heads an entire list of things to do, but then, out of nowhere, the end has arrived and we feel as though we have done nothing. But have we really done nothing? I am a solid believer that memories are made when things don’t go as planned. We may not have gone to see that band with our friends, or spent an entire day at the beach, or gone on that road trip we dreamed of, but what we did experience is far more important than what we’d hoped.

2. Every teacher forgets we have other classes besides theirs.

Procrastination is the name of the game. We receive the syllabus, it seems pretty reasonable, and we all feel like we will, “get to it eventually.” All of a sudden, there’s two weeks left and every teacher is looking at us with that, I hope you spent a good twenty hours on that paper I assigned the first week of classes while I think to myself, I spent a whole five minutes thinking I could do that paper, or, I could go get ice cream with my friends; and I always chose the latter. The hardest part is, it’s not only one teacher who is expecting this spectacular assignment, but all of them. The end of the semester is extremely stressful because everything is due at once and all of a sudden, there’s no time to do anything. Somehow, though, it all gets done and summer welcomes us with the hope of a homework-free three months.

3. I really don’t want to leave all of my friends for the summer.

College bonds people like none other. There’s no other time quite like college where we all get to live life so closely with our friends. We see our friends from sun up to sun down, in classes, at meals, campus events and of course around the dorm. I can honestly say my friends in college have become a second family to me, and the thought of not seeing some of them for three months straight breaks my heart. Again, time seems endless, and though I know it will go by quickly, in this moment, I can’t picture living life without them for those three months.

4. But then again, they’re starting to get on my nerves...

In high school, we’d go to school and maybe practice with our friends, but at the end of the day, we’d go home to our families and our own beds and unwind. In college, it’s not like that. There’s no escaping; when there’s conflict, we have to face it head on since our friends are so involved in our lives. The end of the semester is here and every little thing seems to turn into a huge thing and we all become more easily irritated. We just really do need that break, even from our friends.

5. What in the world am I going to do over the summer?

After being so busy every day balancing classes, work, a social life and so much more, the thought of having an entire summer to fill up sounds somewhat daunting. There are so many possibilities, but how do we choose? Do we get a normal summer job, an intense internship, take a trip overseas or take the summer to give ourselves a break? Whatever it is that we chose, it will be a break from the craziness of college, and I think that’s the point of summer: to give us all a break.

So as this semester closes out, make the most of every experience. Go on a few last spur-of-the-moment adventures, power through those assignments we all forgot to be working on all semester, pray you don’t fail your finals and make sure to tell your friends how much you love them. Then, take summer to renew so you can hop right back into this crazy life called college.