It's that time of the year when the "back to school" commercials start and the ads pile up in your mailbox or on the kitchen counter. Some of them are obviously for primary and secondary school-age kiddos and teens. But then there are ones that give you the "back to campus" slogan tied with "all your college dorm needs." And every ad you see, starting the middle of July, makes your summer spirit die a little inside.
1. Denial.
When seeing all the ads about dorm necessities, you quickly hid them under other mail or throw them in the trash. Even the cute bedding piece or awesome organizer on the front doesn't pique your interest. Summer is not allowed to be over, therefore going back to campus just isn't happening. Yet.
2. Anger.
The hiding of your ads or tossing them away doesn't help because the following day you're given a new one by the dreaded mail carrier. It's as if the mail carrier's out to get you. They keep bringing you more ads that are trying to signify summer is over, but you haven't completed your summer to do list yet. You're really drowning in these ads and it's as if the mail carrier is taunting you. Summer just can't be over yet. There's still time left for the beach, right?
3. Bargaining.
Finally, you give in and just look through the ads. You tell yourself that summer's not over just yet, but it'll be nice to have an idea of things you might need for the coming school year. You make a deal with yourself that just looking through the ads doesn't mean that summer is over yet. You'll even bring the ads for your days at the beach where you just soak in the sun. What if you just pick out a few things you'll need or want for the year? That would make shopping easier, right?
4. Depression.
But as you look through the ads, even while you're out soaking in the sun, you start to feel as though you can feel summer slipping through your fingers. You didn't even have that much time with it, only two months or so. You wished that you were given more time with summer to do the things you wanted to do. Your days mush together as you fall into a slump. Summer with its sunny days and warm nights will be over before you know it and you really do not want that to happen.
5. Acceptance.
You've given up on dreading the fact that summer is coming to a close. Instead, you find things to be positive about once you finally realize you've seen all you were going to of summer. You have a dorm to get organized, friends to make plans with, books to buy for classes and even club meetings to look forward to. Additionally, fall brings sweater weather, cool nights, change of scenery and so much more to also make you happy. Despite summer being over, you're beginning to get ready for the next part of the year to begin.
