This week, for most college students, marks either the beginning of the summer or the first week of summer. Spring semesters always seem to be the most difficult. We come back from a one-month winter break only to be catapulted into more studies while the season changes around us and asks us to come outside and play. Honestly, it’s a lot like being a kid again, having to sit inside and do homework until it was done before you could go outside. Or for some of us, maybe it’s the hardest if you’re about to graduate. The senioritis only magnifies as it sits and waits for some of us at the end of the finish line, like a long-lost friend waiting for an embrace. Whatever your reason is, the spring semester can be found as one of the more difficult semesters in college.

Spring 2016 made its way on the list of “Most Difficult Semesters” for me. But aside from being one of my more difficult semesters, it’s also taught me a handful of things and has pushed me to step outside of my comfort zone in numerous ways. While it wasn’t some “life-changing” experience necessarily, it’s definitely shaped my outlook on several things. Here are some of the things I’ve learned from the spring 2016 semester:

1. Patience

Would you believe me if I said that they hold college classes until 11:00 p.m.? It’s perfectly OK if you think I’m a liar. In the past, I’ve had late classes and late labs. But the longest they’ve ever lasted is until 9:00. This semester, 3D Modeling became one of my teachers in the course of patience. From 6:15 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Thursday nights, I sat in a lab in a class where the content didn’t always come easy. It doesn’t seem so bad when it’s laid out over the course of one night a week but when the content is challenging, your patience is tested.
Aside from 3D modeling, I think every student makes friends with senioritis. We did it in high school, what’s stopping us in college? Senioritis doesn’t necessarily hit us in the beginning because most of us are emerged into a new world of independence and most of us are set out to start our journey as adults and to make new friends. But once we hit the point where we’ve moved past general education classes and a few classes in our majors (give or take), we just want to be done. All-nighter after all-nighter, procrastinated essay after the next, something builds up inside of us where we become anxious to hit the finish line and graduate. I’ve noticed in the last week or so it seems as though the last bunch of my high school graduating class has hit their milestone in college and now they’re ready to enter the real world. If this is you, I want to give you a congratulations. If you’re on the other end with me, still running the marathon, I can honestly say this – have patience. The time will come for all of us to eventually reach that line and we can’t do it until we’re given the skills we need for the real world. Plus, enjoy the time you have left in college. There’s still people to meet, things to learn and places to see. The real world is always going to be there.

2. Get involved

It seems like one of the biggest clichés, right? Especially in college. How many of us maneuvered our way throughout college orientation, listening to presentation after presentation and pushing through each event on the itinerary? Chances are you had to do this song and dance. One of the greatest points that was made during orientation was that of getting involved. There was a “fair” for student organizations across campus that incoming freshmen had been invited to to scout out in hopes that the majority would be recruited. Having been exhausted from listening to presentations and following every event on an itinerary, I had grown exhausted and making new friends was the last thing I wanted to think about. Or maybe it was my extreme shyness talking, overall I wasn’t having it. Spring 2016 marked the start of my junior year and “getting involved” became less of this crazy, foreign concept to me as I joined the Spanish club at school along with writing for The Odyssey. Sure, it doesn’t seem like much compared to joining a sorority or the student government but it’s been a start. Joining the Spanish club has helped me to continue improving on my Spanish skills while taking a break from the classes themselves and has introduced me to people with the same set of interests that I have. Whatever it is, big or small, I can say that all of the chants about “getting involved” were true. Finding where you fit in is hard but joining a club you think might suit you could leave a bigger impact than you think.

3. Ask for help

Asking for help is hard for stubborn people like me. It also forces you to put down the wall of pride for a period of time to get what you need. Help can come in all forms. Whether it’s asking a professor for help on an assignment, asking your advisor for help with your class registration or reaching out to counseling to talk, help is a beautiful thing. I think as college students, we tend to carry this desire to make it seem like we have it all together. From choosing majors and careers, to having a social life and/or a love life, we’re programmed to get it all together from the beginning and it becomes hard. Road blocks get in our way whether it’s life or school or work but we all seem to let our prides take the hit instead of learning to deal with it. The pressures from all of these things sit inside of us just like a pressure cooker and no matter how much it builds up, the lid will always find its way off in the end. This eventually leads to unsafe measures that can be taken which will only make things worse in terms of school, work, and life. If you ever find yourself in this position, whether it’s an assignment or something at home, I can’t stress enough to seek help. From the mouth of one of the most stubborn people, seek the help that’s needed. Don’t let it build up into something that could’ve been controlled from the start.

4. Don’t Panic

This takes part in seeking help. Don’t panic. It’s a lot easier said than done and most of the time I find that I can’t take my own advice. It could be something as small and menial as forgetting my earphones for school and I’ll panic. Or coming up on a Thursday and realizing I have classes from 9:25 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., I panic. Without trying to be a bearer of clichés, take deep breaths. If this doesn’t help, do what you can to stay grounded. The panic is only manifested to make you exhausted and to make your days longer when you already have enough to worry about. Take a deep breath, remember your surroundings, tell yourself that it’ll pass and lastly….

5. Take a break

I know this kind of thing seems hard when assignments pile on and there’s work to be done but take a break. Whether you take a 10 minute nap or walk a lap around your neighborhood, or maybe you put off a paper for an hour to take a hike, be sure to give yourself a break. Without urging people to procrastinate, I highly recommend taking breaks as much as you can. Even if it’s multiple little ones. Without taking breaks, our minds constantly focus on our assignments and the stress that’s brought on by them. Not to mention the stress leads to poor productivity, fatigue and will only aid you in making more mistakes throughout your assignments or your work.

If your summer has started, congratulations! Relax, go out and enjoy yourself. You’ve worked day and night to successfully finish the 2015-2016 year out with a bang and now it’s time to forget the homework, the assignments and the deadlines. Besides, fall 2016 will be back to welcome us before we know it with arms wide open.