With Memorial-Day weekend quickly approaching and summer classes and jobs in full swing, it’s hard to believe that less than a month ago we were having mental breakdowns in our dorm rooms and dreading taking our last few finals. And although a majority of my spring semester was spent crying, eating chocolate on the floor because of how stressed and overwhelmed I was, I’m already wishing for summer to be over, and can’t wait for football season and tailgates.

I was so excited and ready to be home for the summer. And don’t get me wrong, it is really nice to not feel stressed out 24/7 and to see all my friends that I missed so, so much, but now, at just three weeks in, I’m bored out of my mind and am currently going through what I’d like to refer to as The Five Stages of Grief: Home from College Edition.

1.Denial

Denial is the first of the five stages of grief, it helps us to cope and survive with the loss that we are feeling. At first it was kind of nice to have a day free of plans and things that have to be done. You’re excited to go out and see your friends and explore your town to see what’s changed since you’ve been gone. Then a week goes by and you begin to defend yourself and say that things are fine and that you have your life together, despite the fact that you have very little planned this summer. You begin to question yourself and what you want. Are you lazy because you didn’t want to enroll in summer classes…? Do I really need to keep myself busy with a summer job…? Shit, I have a dollar in my bank account, I really should go look for a job.

2.Anger

Anger is a necessary stage in the healing process. By being willing to feel your anger and true emotions, the more you are able to heal. Your emotions become slightly erratic and you begin to have random outbursts. You feel happy, sad, angry, at times nostalgic of the best year of your life you just had. You keep bringing up people and stories of things that happened at school and become angry and confused as to why your best friends now live hours away from you. You also find it really difficult to cope with your parents observing, and judging your every move, now that your back living under their roof.

3.Bargaining

We begin to go back to the what ifs or I should have done that differently. We begin to go back and analyze our actions and things we did at school. Did I explore enough? Did I take hard enough classes? Will having little planned this summer impact me negatively? Well guess what, coulda, shoulda, woulda. Despite all the what ifs you might currently feel, there’s no going back in time, only moving forward. You’ll just have to do things differently next time.

4.Depression

Empty feelings begin to present themselves. We were used to being constantly busy and always surrounded by people to talk to. We were accustom to ordering food at any hour of the night and having it delivered right to our door. Even when you had nothing going on there was always something for you to do. At first being home felt comfortable and refreshing, a good change of pace. But now the boredom of the suburbs has really begun to set in and you’re really not sure what to do with yourself.

5.Acceptance

Acceptance is a confusing, yet enlightening stage. It’s going to be weird getting used to the new norm of things. But you’ll eventually get into a routine of your own again. And before you know it, summer will be over. Fall will soon be here again. Your life will again be filled with midterms, tailgating, football games, cafe food, group projects, the yearning for your pets at home, and everything else that makes college truly worth doing.

Disclaimer: this by no means is making fun of the five-step grieving process.