At first glance, college classes seem like a dream come true to students fresh out of their senior year of high school. Freshman year general education classes have optional attendance (for the most part), are pretty straightforward and simple, and are held in large enough lecture halls that the professors can't randomly call on students to check to see if they've done the assigned reading. It's a nice breath of freedom after the grueling AP and SAT prep classes that we all endured in high school. These easy classes allow for your freshman and sophomore years to be the moments that you can live up the college experience to its full potential. You don't have to second guess going out on a Tuesday because the chances are that your large lecture communications teacher won't notice that you're missing on Wednesday.
But like all good things, freshman classes come to an end. By the time you complete these classes, you are supposed to be set on a major that you are both passionate about and are willing to spend the rest of your working career centered around. When you say goodbye to your joke general education's and begin your journey through your upper division classes, something strange happens. You start to age quickly. You no longer have the energy to participate in wine Wednesday's. You start to fall asleep in random places. Your back constantly aches from pouring over your text books and computer. There's no denying it...you turn into a grandma. If these eight signs apply to you, then your upper divisions have turned you into a grandma.
1. You find yourself nodding off as early as 8 p.m.
Now, it would be nice if you could actually go to sleep at this time, but chances are, you take a quick 20-minute nap and then power through a few more hours of homework before you call it a night.
2. Things that used to make you happy now make you irritable and cranky.
You used to love taking in the view of your campus as you leisurely walked from class to class. Now, you find yourself cursing, under your breath as you try to maneuver your way around the impossibly slow walkers.
3. The only shots you're throwing back are shots of Nyquil.
With four midterms in one week, you absolutely do not have time to get sick. Plus, when you do want to sleep, chances are you are too wired on caffeine from your study sessions in the library.
4. You feel like you are developing arthritis and constantly complain of blurred vision and back pain.
These are all side effects of cramming out hours of studying in the library.
5. Your bed will always sound more appealing than a party.
Loud music? Sweaty freshmen? Cheap drinks? No, thank you. You'd rather catch up on the sleep you lost last week when you pulled three all-nighters.
6. You actually take advantage of "early bird specials."
Once you reach upper divisions, you are probably less dependent on your parents for money than you were your freshman year. Early bird specials, coupons and sales are all very exciting things for you.
7. You swear you have started to form wrinkles and you've found your first gray hair.
The stress of your classes has taken a toll on your appearance. You can never quite be sure if your eyes are swollen and puffy or if you aged 40 years overnight.
8. Becoming a crazy cat lady seems like more of a reality each day.
Between studying, internships and a job, your social/dating life has taken a hiatus. Maybe you will grow up to never marry and own twenty-seven cats after all.
