I think we all understand that sad feeling as we drive back to campus after spring break, leaving our comfortable home once more to re-enter the real world.
College is a place of constant entertainment, stimulus, and activity, but it is also a place of constant stress, anxiety, and sleep deprivation. It's easy to miss college when you're away, but it's also easy to miss home when you're back, and during the first week back from a break it always seems like you feel the worst of the struggles.
This is especially true during spring break, when it's starting to get warmer and campus is buzzing with anticipation about the end of the semester. There's a lot to struggle through during your first week back on campus, and here are a few of the major ones.
1. Waking Up
No matter how much sleep you get the night before, it will never be enough. Getting out of bed for your early morning classes will always be one of the hardest things you do all day, and after a long break of not having to set an alarm, you're not ready to start again so soon.
2. Mismatching Breaks
Seeing everyone else's posts about the beach or on vacation while you're stuck in a classroom is almost torture. And knowing that other friends' breaks don't line up with yours always makes things hard too. Unfortunately, being back at school while others are not can be a difficult truth to accept.
3. New Material
Now that all the midterm exams are over, the professors are all teaching new material at the same time. Confusing, overwhelming, and new concepts coming all at the same time often leave you behind, and it makes for a hard transition back from break.
4. The weather
We're officially upon that time where you have no idea what to expect of the weather outside. The day could start as cold and windy and you need a coat, but you'll end up just carrying it around with you the rest of the day when it's beautiful. It could be 60 degrees outside and sunny one day, and snowing outside the next. Because of this time of year, it's hard to pick outfits in which to comfortably walk around campus, and hard to enjoy your time outside.
5. Getting back into a routine
Again, going from the lazy days of break to constant schedules, work, meetings, and activities is rough. Forcing yourself into your old regimen is something you want to resist at all costs, and it's the first week that's always the toughest.
6. Forgetting about spring break
Once you get a taste of freedom, it's hard to forget it. Now you're at the home stretch and you can only keep thinking about what that break was like and how great it'll be to be back home permanently. Forgetting about break and trying to keep an eye on the up and coming months is perhaps the greatest challenge of them all.
Spring break is a blessing just when you need it most, but coming back sometimes complicates things. There are advantages and disadvantages to everything though; where there are struggles of coming back, there are also bright spots. Especially, when getting an education.
As soon as we can get past these mental blocks and start to get back into the academic rigor, it'll all be worth it again.
