It's that time of year again- the time that students leave their crappy summer jobs, family house rules, and head back to college. Although being home can feel like a fun vacation, there are certain struggles that all of us go through when we go back to school after a long summer. These are the seven struggles of the ending of summer and the beginning of a new school year.
1. Packing
Ah, packing. Everyone hates it, mostly because it's such an arduous process and because you never now what to bring. How many sweatshirts are too many? Did I agree to bring the microwave or did my roommate? I can bring my cat, right?
2. Missing your friends
You miss your friends from school so much that you can't wait to jump right back into it when you get back. What will you tell them first about your summer? Will everyone be the same people they were when you left? You can't wait to find out.
3. The actual trip
This struggle's severity depends on how far away you live from campus. My journey is about a 4 hour drive, so you know I feel this one so hard. Better queue up the music; you're in for a long journey in a likely tiny family car. Speaking of the drive, before you can make it, you need to face the struggle of...
4. Getting all your stuff in the stupid car
Is it just me, or are cars getting smaller? Before you can even begin to think about the new school year, you need to solve the first math problem of the year- how the heck do I fit my entire life into a Honda Odyssey? And if you live in an apartment? Forget about it.
5. Getting your sleep schedule back on track
You know what one of the best things about spending the summer at your parents house is?
You can stay up till 3 am playing Katamari.
You know what one of the worst things about spending the summer at your parents house is?
You DO stay up till 3 am playing Katamari.
Getting your sleep schedule back on track is no joke. After a summer of staying up all night, it's going to be pretty difficult to go back to sleeping at a reasonable hour.
6. Getting up for 8am classes
This is a struggle related to number five but that poses a much higher set of risks. The risks of tossing and turning in your bed until two in the morning is just that you'll probably be a little bit groggy the next day. Signing up and subsequently skipping 8am's runs you the risk of failing the class. However, if you can't avoid it, it's a struggle we all have to face at one point or another in our college career.
7. Getting work on the first day
Nothing like being thrown right back into the swing of things on the first day back. When you get the professor who wants to knock you back into college life on the first day, you'll wish it was summer all over again. "But professor, it's the first day back!"
