Syllabus week. A time when college students catch up with their friends, finish the Netflix shows that they were watching over break, and go out almost every night. Except for you. And your roommates. And everyone you know. Instead of drowning in alcohol, you're drowning in reading assignments. For your poor, unfortunate soul, that once anticipated "syllabus week" is a myth.
Sure, there was once a time long, long ago during freshmen and sophomore year when syllabus week really was what dreams were made of. You would (mostly) show up to class, knowing absolutely nothing about it, go over the syllabus, go back to your room, sleep, and have no excuse to stay in even when you had an 8 a.m. the next day. It was glorious.
But now you're an upperclassman, which apparently means that you have responsibilities. Professors are assigning work before the first day. This year, I actually got an assignment during Thanksgiving break for the spring semester. You're expected to do and understand the reading and actually participate in class. The best part about the syllabus reading is that you don't have the book yet and there's absolutely no chance that the bookstore has it in stock. They failed you. Amazon failed you. You're just going to have to wing it and cram when you finally manage to borrow the book the day before. Hooray, syllabus week.
It really shouldn't be called syllabus week anymore because most teachers only spend a good half a lecture on the syllabus before they decide to "dive in" and start with discussion or notes. You no longer get that cushy class period when you get to dose off without thinking. You actually need a notebook. The syllabus is the only time you get to ease your vacation brain into your working brain, and it's definitely not enough.
Then it happens. You get the emails. All of them. At once. Every single club you have ever signed up for at a club fair emails you at once with their "welcome back" email, asking you to do things. During syllabus week. When you're an upperclassman, you send out a lot of those emails yourself, meaning that you need to figure out exactly what the hell is going on in each of those clubs. Not to mention meeting with professors and advisors to figure out what exactly you're doing with your classes and your life. Time you used to spend watching Netflix you now spend to try and figure out where you're supposed to be the next day.
In the middle of the semester, sending and responding to emails and doing minor homework assignments would be a God send; however, you just spent the last three weeks sitting on your couch and forgetting how to write, so it comes as more of a struggle. Your brain isn't ready to go back. You're still in vacation mode. You dream of following the hoards of underclassmen to the bars and visiting friends. Too bad you have emails to write and books to hunt down.
Even though this syllabus week isn't quite what you wanted, that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. It's a time for you to figure out exactly what's going on and an opportunity to start the semester strong and in control. If you struggle through syllabus week and get your sh*t together, it will honestly make the rest of semester a lot easier when you actually know what's happening. And you still have time to watch a few episodes of Netflix and hang out with your roommates. The days of the easy syllabus week are gone; but don't worry, it only gets harder from here.
