It’s that time of year again. We see the back-to-school commercials. Once that last week hits, we become eager because we know we’re going to move back very soon. We’ll soon be feeling part of the college community rather than the stress that we had when we left in the spring. But now, all we can do in this last week is wait to move back, and there are some things that are happening that are getting you excited.
1. The summer is winding down.
Your summer has given you memories that will stay with you forever, and now you want to make memories at school with your friends. Things around you tip you off that summer is coming to a close, and you need to accept it. Everywhere you look there are now back-to-school sales at stores. You see the schools in your town having their first week of school. And if you had a summer job, you’ve most likely had your last day this week. The “summer is almost over” panic has come and gone, and now you are just ready for school to start.
2. Texting your roommates about living together.
The first text regarding the room may have been sent earlier than the last week of summer, but at this point you are still discussing with your roommates what to do with the room. As you’re talking to your roommates, you begin to visualize what your room is going to be like and you want to do anything to make the room look better. Also you start to reminisce of the years past with each other or you begin to crack the inside jokes you have with them. At this point you want to go back to school for the weekend nights you had with your roommates and friends, and you wished you could live at school without having to go to class.
3. Your home friends talking about moving in.
After hanging out with your friends and seeing them as the fun-loving people, something changes in them. It begins with them saying, “I can’t wait to go back to school!” This starts out as a red flag because it’s still early August, and you’re not ready to hear about school since it reminds you of staying up until sunrise for finals and feeling nothing but anxiety and stress. But, while they keep talking about how excited they are to move back in, you start to come around. It seems to you that wanting to go back to school is a disease, and you caught it from your friends. Then, during the last week of summer, you see that your friends are leaving for school, and you want to jump on that bus of people leaving for school. You envy them because they get to start their memories earlier, and you’re stuck in that in between world that is on the border of summer and school.
4. Looking up your school on social media.
By this point you have most likely searched your school's Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to see what they've posted. Whether you find articles, funny posts or beautiful pictures of the campus, it is a sign that you’re ready to go back. You are becoming eager to be back on a campus, to be part of a school that is doing good things for the community or winning an NCAA championship (Go Friars!). You want to feel like part of your college’s community and part of the student body. You see articles on your school, and you cannot help but feel proud you go there. I think a lot of us have either looked up a hashtag containing our schools name or an event that happened at our school, and deep down, we love our schools and just want to be back at them.
5. Buying supplies for school.
Nothing says school like the trips to Walmart and Staples. After getting notebooks and pens, you start to focus on the real supplies: food and stuff for your dorm. You take a trip to your local grocery store and fill the shopping cart to the brim with late-night snacks such as Pop-Tarts and Chips Ahoy and the stereotypical college food that is ramen noodles. Once you get the condescending looks from the cashier because you bought so much food, you imagine yourself late at night cooking —because the dining hall is subpar and is known for giving students “stomach issues” — so you stick to cooking at your dorm for your health’s sake. Next comes decorations, and you go all out with lights, a disco ball that will possibly break the first weekend you’re back, a beanbag chair and posters for your room. You look at all this stuff, and you take a deep breath, sigh, and say, “I’m ready.”
Going back to school is right around the corner, and we all hope for a good year. But even though there may be stress for classes, we are all at least a little bit excited to be back on a college campus. College is where we make memories any time of the day and bond with friends we live with. Any of these things can spark the memory of enjoyment you have about college. All this excitement can get you ready for a new school year and start it off in a positive way.
