As the summer draws to a close, and the unfortunate reality of going back to school dawns, my recent schedule as of late has been all about getting ready for school again. This means getting school supplies ready, memorizing my class schedule, making sure I have plenty of food to last me a few weeks at the dorms and so on. However, because of this endless preparation, and the countdown seemingly ticking faster each and every second, I have had some trouble sleeping. Without getting too personal, I have some anxiety problems, which usually manifest themselves when problems (either big or small) or important events arise in my life. In this case, going back to school does bring with it plenty of troubles that, year in and year out, do cause me even more anxiety during the year.

For instance, during the summer, I have very little to worry about work wise. Outside of my job at the comic book store, I can rest easy knowing that there are no essays or exams due the next day. There aren’t any GPA’s or grades to worry about, no double or triple checking essays that count as 60 percent of my grade or even a minor online assignment. In short, there isn’t really anything that I have to worry about during the summer. Come the school season however, I have all of those things to worry about and then some. When you factor all of those things in, on top of work, social events and finding time to relax, it can become hectic, and lead to pretty bad anxiety. Now, this isn’t exactly a new sensation, and the anxiety isn’t always bad, but when it hits, it hits harder than Rocky Balboa. I also miss my home-cooked meals, and always having food around in my house. Over the summer, I made an effort to eat better, cutting out some junk food and replacing it with more meats and vegetables. Food at school isn’t always great in my opinion, and because I’m a picky eater, I’m not always in the mood for the selection that they provide every night. Even though I can make myself almost everything I eat now at school, I’m worried that because of my school schedule, I’ll start cutting corners and go back to my old, worse, eating habits.

That’s not to say that everything about the upcoming school year is nothing but doom and gloom, as each semester, in my opinion, also has plenty of positives to look forward to. For example, one of the few things that I miss about school are my suitemates. My roommate and my suitemates are some of the best friends I’ve ever had, and I miss our usual hijinks during the week. Whether it’s as simple as playing games or watching movies, to ridiculous pranks or antics around the room, spending time with these guys always makes a hard day in classes much better. Speaking of classes, despite the workload, I do look forward to the clean slate that I get going into each class. Getting a chance to meet new people and professors, regardless of the subject matter, always excites me, and if it’s a class I was interested in taking before, having a great class/professor only makes it a better experience. Of course, on a less school related note, plenty of my favorite shows come back during the school year, like “The Flash,” “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and “the Walking Dead,” which is always something to look forward to.

Even though my anxiety and other worries make it pretty difficult to always look on the bright side, when I make the effort to really think about all the opportunities in front of me, I feel a little bit better. Even writing this article has made me feel better about my situation, and made me look forward to the next adventure ahead of me.