For almost four months of pure summer bliss, I was free from essays, reading textbooks, research projects, and MLA formats. I never cherish a homework-free summer as much as I should. Then, when I return to the daily grind of education, I realize that I have to revert back to the timeless responsibility that is homework. Instead of coming home from a long shift and kicking my feet up, I have to come home from a long day of academics (and people) and hit the books. I am only two weeks into the semester and I feel like I need to put the homework training wheels on once again. It's never easy to write that first essay of the semester, and it almost never goes as smoothly (or as quickly) as we want it to go.

1. You forget how to spell.

I'll ask you not to judge me, since I do study English and consider myself a stickler for grammar. Regardless, when you have to get back to typing extremely fancy and intelligent-sounding vocabulary, things can get a little messy. You find yourself typing out a word fairly confidently, only to see the wonderful little red line appear below it. You refuse to be defeated, since you have definitely used this word multiple times before. Two things happen here: either you figure out that you had one letter misplaced or you surrender to spellcheck (if you even got spellcheck results in the first place).

2. You get distracted by your roommates.

This early into the semester, your academic focus hasn't really set in yet, and its easy to be caught up in the dorm festivities. You start to announce when you are doing homework, as if that would create an environment that is equal to the library's privacy. Even though you think your headphones can keep them at bay, they will eventually try to get your attention through yelling or gesturing to you as you try to "focus."

3. You think that you can take "study breaks."

At this stage, even a four paragraph essay or a one page response paper can seem like an eternal project. So, you tell yourself that you deserve many breaks in between your extremely "challenging" assignment. These breaks include (but are not limited to): full episodes on Netflix, a binging session of all the food in your dorm room, a reenactment of "Hamilton: An American Musical," a melodramatic nap, or an hour dedicated to cleaning up your Tumblr and taking Buzzfeed quizzes about fall. One thing is for certain, you could have finished that assignment in an hour instead of three hours.

4. The laziness sets in.

You forget that in order to claim something or state something in any academic paper, you have to have proof that it actually came from somewhere. That's, for lack of a better word, a drag. You try to work up the effort to actually find evidence from a smelly textbook, or the deep dark hole that is known as other sites that are not Wikipedia. Honestly, even plugging information into EasyBib is too much work.

5. Your essays go downhill quickly.

You might start off one of your first essays nice and strong, with a clear thesis statement and outline ahead. Just like riding a bike, you think that you can get right back into the swing of things. Then, an hour later (depending on how many breaks you take), you reread your essay. None of the body paragraphs have anything to do with your original thesis statement, and you have gone on an impressive string of unimportant tangents and random quips. You stare blankly in acceptance at the document, knowing that you can't undo what you've already done.

6. You forget when things are due.

Sure, your professors give you that handy little piece of paper called the syllabus. Yet, when you've been living a life full of freedom in the summer months, you're not used to having a variety of deadlines staring you in the face. Overwhelmed is an understatement, and you start to label things as "due later." Until, one day, later arrives and you are pulling an all-nighter to plunk out a pathetic and below average assignment.

I encourage you to fight through these struggles to the best of your ability, no matter the assignment. Just remember that you can always watch Netflix for 5 hours after that homework is submitted. Unless you only have 15 minutes left of an episode, then I think you should finish it first.