Of course, we are all thrilled to be back in Charlottesville. There is no place better — just reference our happiest city in America first place ranking.

But with our return to the fun times comes our return to the bad times. Long nights at Clem, hours spent reading, and stress, so much stress, lie ahead of us. If you have not already, you will soon have to open your Amazon boxes and crease your fresh textbooks.

Studying is hard, I get that. That’s why I made this article’s picture Josh Peck’s “little boy body in man clothes” (@PortableShua).

That’s also why I’ve created this list of helpful hints to ease into your school work. Maybe someday I’ll take my own advice. 

1. Start early. 

I know you don’t want to do it. I know you're going to procrastinate. Take our your books early. Make a dent in your reading. Take breaks often. Don’t force yourself to be the last one in Clem because you spent the whole time talking to your friends and somehow they managed to do all their work but you didn’t. 

2. Bring food. 

My go-to excuse for why I cant study is because I'm hungry. I am not hungry. I am bored. Bring snacks to nibble on while you work. You won't have an excuse to stop, and you will be able to focus more. Chewing gum (or food) has been shown to increase your ability to concentrate. 

3. No new friends. 

No friends at all. Now is not the time to chat it up with your BFF about where you’re going out that night. You can wait a little longer to do the awkward “Hi, I’m Monika. I’ve definitely met you before. Lol!” when you walk up to your friend and another girl you know but don’t know. This is crunch time. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can be with your friends for the real fun. Find a quiet spot in your library of choice and have your intellectual curiosity and determination as company. 

4. Give in. 

When you feel that need to scan Facebook, just do it. Take a quick break, and read your Twitter feed. Send out a mass snapchat. The key is to make your breaks brief. If you let your frustration build, you will find yourself on a two-hour-long bender of clips of The Office on Youtube. 

5. Be confident. 

You may feel overwhelmed by everything you have to do. You may think you will never understand what your professor was trying to say in his thick accent. But you will. You will keep studying until you’re done. And once you finish, you can a) forget everything you crammed completely or b) store that knowledge for later use in your life. The choice is yours. I like to think that even the random facts we cram are in there somewhere and are helping us subconsciously.

Studying after months without homework, readings, exams, or papers is going to be hard. It's going to be sunny outside, and there will always be steins of Bold Rock at Trinity that may tempt you. But you have to earn the right to be here, and studying is what you got here in the first place. You can do it. I promise.