At some point we've all heard of the famous "Five Stages of Grief" coping mechanism, right? The emotions we all go through when we lose something or someone close to you.
At this time right now, each and every student across the country has lost something universal: summer vacation. No more days of sleeping in, no more days working a routine job, no more amazing internship experiences or days to travel the world.
The new semester (scratch that, the new year) has begun and with it brings the joys and sorrows of starting school again. If you're a freshman everything is new and amazing, but if you're an upperclassmen it's often incredibly hard to get used to everything again.
In order for this to be more comprehensive, I've presented these confusing mix of feelings into a list of five reasons to hate and love being back.
1. Denial
It's officially been one week back and we're still denying we have class. Summer just started so how am I sitting in this hot building taking notes? Did summer even happen? It just makes us want to run away from all of our responsibilities.
2. Happiness
The feeling of seeing your friends after three months of separation is a feeling that's hard to describe. It's probably the main reason we wanted to go back to college. Just to see them and catch up like you never left in the first place. It's unfortunate that class gets in the way of seeing them all the time.
3. Overindulgence
Syllabus Week means Party Week. Every night there is always something. Downtown is usually never quiet and houses are filled to the brim with students (many of whom are new freshman) enjoying the freedom of the night. During this week, class is something we try hard to forget.
4. Regret
Unfortunately, waking up the next morning for an 8 am lecture is why we hate ourselves for going out during the week in the first place. It shouldn't be this early to question everything but you start to anyway.
5. Acceptance
I guarantee that after a month I'll still be denying I have class. By then it'll be too late and we'll have no choice but to accept the reality. This is real and this is what must be done in order to complete the semester.
